A Whitelighter's Priority
by rachelAbendstern
Summary: Chris has a new asignment, which helps him deal with some of his issues. I am not really good with summaries, so just give it a try. Btvs x-over
1. New Charges and other Problems

Title: A Whitelighter's Priority

Author: rachelAbendstern

Summary: Chris has to take care of two new charges – on the Hellmouth. I know, the idea is old, but give it a shot. Please?

Disclaimer: Neither Buffy nor Charmed is mine, and I don't make any money with it. Lily though belongs to me XP

1. New Charges and other Problems

_Sag ein kleines Stückchen Wahrheit,  
__Sieh wie die Wüste lebt.  
__Schaff ein kleines bisschen Klarheit,  
__Und schau wie sich der Schleier hebt.  
__Eine Wüste aus Beton und Asphalt,  
__Doch sie lebt und öffnet einen Spalt,  
__Der dir neues zeigt, zeigt das altes weicht,  
__Auch wenn dein Schmerz bis an den Himmel reicht._

"You want me to do what!" Chris all but yelled at the Elder. They were sitting at the bar of P3, or rather; Leo was sitting, since Chris had abruptly jumped off his seat as he had heard what the other man had had to say.

"I want you to take on a new charge, Chris!" Leo sounded positively venomous. He really did not have any patience with his junior Whitelighter. It did not have anything to do with his own animosity towards the young man or with his guilty conscience that telling him he should not have left his family no matter what. No, it had nothing to do with that not at all.

"I told you, I don't have time for another charge! I came here for one reason and one reason only and that was not to make up for the missing Whitelighters, but to save Wyatt! You better keep that in mind because if you don't, what happened in my future will happen here just the same!"

It felt good to vent his anger on Leo but the only problem was it did not help any. The Elder was still wearing that resolute expression that told his younger opponent that nothing he could do or say would change Leo's plans for him. That just drove Chris completely insane! How did this damn bastard not see how dangerous it was if Chris were to divert his attention from the sisters? Then again, Leo did not trust him and neither did the sisters. That realization hurt more than he wanted it to even though he was prepared for it. Why did their actions hurt him so much if he had expected this to happen?

He did not have time to contemplate his situation any further however because the other man grabbed his arm unceremoniously and orbed out with an unwilling Chris in tow.

He found himself in an unknown living room. He did recognize the vibes that suddenly went through his whole body however.

"The Hellmouth!" he shouted at Leo. "You have got to be kidding me. You actually want me to take care of a charge on the Hellmouth! Are you mad? You know as well as I do, that a charge on the Hellmouth needs a fulltime Whitelighter, Leo!"

Chris was no longer angry with the Elder; he was seething! How could Leo do this?

"Who the hell are you people?" A strange voice made its way through Chris' rage and he took a quick look around. Six stunned faces stared at them. Two of whom were witches, the young Whitelighter sensed, and some of the others were not quite human either.

"As Whitelighter it is your duty to take on several charges and you know that, Chris!" The Elder did not even both to acknowledge the intrusion on their little conversation.

"I will tell you once again I didn't come here to be a regular Whitelighter." Chris was done screaming, his voice was a dangerous hiss now and his fury had almost reached the boiling point. He could feel his powers getting out of control, but it would not do for Leo to find out about his witch powers now. Chris had enough problems without opening that can of worms. Shaking with the effort to contain them, he tried his best to reason with the Elder.

"Listen, Leo I get that you want me out of the way. Believe me I get it but what you want to do now puts others in danger. You want to talk about Whitelighter morals how about this, these girls need to be their Whitelighter's first priority. Even if you take the sisters away from me _they_ would be my first priority, because _they_ are what I came back here for in the first place!"

"Now that you warned us we can prevent it and we don't need you for that." Leo's voice was alarmingly condescending.

"You are so full of it!" Chris started once more, only to be interrupted by a voice – again.

"Hey, would you people care to fill us in?"

Turning around Chris caught sight of a tall man in black leather with spiky bleach blonde hair and a seriously pissed expression. However, the young man was too pissed-off himself to be even remotely intimidated.

"Do you mind peroxide we're fighting here?"

"No, Chris we're done," Leo's sharp voice objected. "There is no point arguing any longer, it will not change anything. Tara and Willow will be your new charges along with the sisters. Take good care of them; you know what happens when you fail."

"Yeah, I bet that's exactly what you're counting on isn't it," Chris did not even try to conceal the bitterness in his voice this time. "It's what you always do." However, the Elder had already started to orb out, leaving him alone with the two witches and their friends, he assumed. Abandoning him once again proving some things never change.

Trying to calm himself down, Chris rubbed his eyes wearily. "Great, just great," the young man muttered under his breath.

That little display just now probably did not do a thing to convince the two girls to lay their faith in their new guardian. Despite everything, the young half-breed felt sorry for those two. They would be the ones to suffer, if he failed in his new duty – which was only a matter of time really.

They were still looking at him. The bleach blonde-haired person – something did not feel right about him – did not seem to be able to decide if he was pissed or amused. Another tall man, this one brown-haired person and more sturdy, eyed him suspiciously, as if Chris was going to jump him, if he was not careful. The blonde woman at his side looked more as if she would jump Chris any minute, and for completely different reasons. Chris actually had to fight down a blush at her intent stare. Then there was a teenage girl who was tiny with long brunette hair and had a gaze that was equally suspicious and curious.

The two witches, one flaming red and the other honey colored hair were standing very... very close together and were watching him more confused than anyone else was.

"So," the red one uncertainly began. "What is a Whitelighter and what is our part in it?"

Chris' temper momentarily flared up to new heights as he heard this. "He didn't even tell you!" Raking his hands through his hair he said, "This is getting worse by the minute!"

666

The Scoobies eyed the young man in front of them warily, not quite able to figure out if he was a threat or not, while said young man stared sullenly back at them.

Spike took in his appearance curiously. He did not seem like the ordinary Whitelighter. In his time on earth, he had heard quite a bit about them and had even seen one or two in his days. Those white blue orbs had been enough for the vampire to know who exactly was visiting the Summers' home. To be truthful he had always wondered why he had not seen one around Red and the other witch so far. What surprised him was that this one actually tried to fight his calling. In front of his supposed charges no less. This was not an average Whitelighter at all. It certainly did not put him into Spike's good graces either. He had no soul but he intended to keep his promise to Buffy to look after Dawn and the little bit would be quite upset if anything happened to her little group of friends. If this... boy put any of them in danger then there would be hell to pay! Spike would make sure to find a way around that damn chip in his head to deliver it personally.

The tension in the room was almost tangible by now, "So…"

"Okay…" Dawn's voice perked up at the same time the newcomer finally decided to say something.

A tight smile played around the young man's lips as he motioned for Dawn to continue, "Ladies first."

"Why don't we start with introductions first and then you can tell us what you came here for."

"Sounds fine with me."

"Uh…well…ok, I'm Dawn," the brown-haired teenager began awkwardly after realizing this Chris-guy would not start with introducing himself first.

"That guy over there-" she pointed to the whelp "is Xander with his girlfriend Anya."

Now she pointed to the blonde-haired woman who cheerily waved him a hand. Spike chuckled as he caught the look on the Whitelighter's face. The ex-demoness seemed to seriously weird the boy out.

"Bleach-blonde here-"

"Hey!" Spike objected.

The nibblet went on as if she did not hear him, "is called Spike."

The boy turned a calculating stare at the vampire and Spike had the distinct feeling that he was being examined inside out. He shot a glare at the Whitelighter in return but otherwise stayed silent – for now.

"Those two," Dawn continued, oblivious to their little battle, indicating the witches "are Willow and Tara." Willow was the red haired women and Tara was the blonde one. "It sounded like you already knew they were witches…" the little bit uncertainly stopped at this point.

"Yeah, I did." the boy answered absentmindedly, eying the witches with a fascinated look. "Are you two an item?"

Both of the witches blushed, causing the vampire and ex-demon to chuckle with mirth and the whelp to grunt, "Does subtlety mean anything to that guy?"

"So, what you're saying is that Whitelighters are some sort of guardian-angels for witches?" Willow recapitulated what they had been explained by Chris in the last twenty or so minutes.

"That's... putting it a bit simple but yes," the young man confirmed patiently.

They had all settled down on the couch and on various easy chairs – or the floor in Dawn's case – in the Summers' living room. Now that he had calmed down after his little argument with his Elder Tara found him almost amiable and handsome. The young witch loved Willow dearly but she was allowed to watch after all. She especially watched the young man's aura. It did not feel like the other Whitelighter's aura at all. In this one, she sensed darkness. Not evil darkness, but the kind of darkness, that came along with sorrow, despair or fear. She had a feeling Chris had seen too much at too young of an age. There was something else that bothered her about his aura, something she knew she should recognize but could not place at the moment.

"You know, what bothers me?" Spike spoke up. Somehow, it still amazed Tara that the vampire now fought on their side and was part of their little group even without a soul. True, he always complained and always whined but when it came down to it, he had not let them down so far. He had earned his place here as far as she was concerned. "Why wasn't there a Whitelighter at their side all along?" The witch smiled secretly when she noted that Spike did not even try to conceal his accusation.

"Because apparently they didn't need one so far," the young Whitelighter stated with a frown marring his features, as he asked himself the very same question.

"How's that possible?" Dawn asked confused. "I thought you said every witch needs and has one assigned to her as soon as she comes into her powers. Willow had her powers a long time before I came here."

"I don't really know," Chris confessed. "I am new on the job and Leo didn't exactly tell me much about you."

Noting the almost undetectable animosity in his words, Tara wondered what issues the two Whitelighters might have with each other.

"Yeah," came the dry comment from Xander. "We overheard that."

Tara suppressed a giggle when she watched her lover's long-time friend. Xander's eyes looked a little glazed over as he tried to process the information they had been given. After all his time on the Hellmouth, she would have thought that the young man would take this new development a little more in stride.

"Yeah," Chris actually looked a bit embarrassed. "Sorry about that." He looked down at his hands for a moment, obviously debating on what to say next. "But, I meant what I told Leo, the sisters will always be my first priority. You should know that. I know, it's not fair to you but I can't help it. That does not mean that I will not help you if I can, or that you can't call me if you need me. You should know that, too. I'll do my best."

The blonde witch could tell he was being honest with them. Chris had a determined look on his face that made him seem older than he probably was.

There were some minutes of silence before Willow spoke up again, unbelievingly shaking her head. "Why would they leave us alone when they look after all other witches? I mean are we less important than the others or did we actually make it that good on our own and screwed up now somehow?"

Tara could hear a distinct note of betrayal in her lover's voice and quickly tried to soothe her. "Oh, but we weren't alone Sweaty. We had Mr. Giles all along didn't we?"

Nodding, Willow gave her a teary smile.

"Who's Mr. Giles?" Chris asked curiously.

"He was the former school librarian and my sister's Watcher. He has moved to London again a few days ago," Dawn filled him in without hesitation.

"Dawn!" Xander cried accusingly but the girl just shrugged it off.

"What given what he is and what he told us he probably knows about Slayers anyway," she argued reasonably. If Tara had not known Dawn was still hurting from the loss of her sister, her composed façade would have fooled her. They were all still hurting but she was the one Tara was most concerned about.

"Well, that _would_ explain it," Chris interrupted her musings, frown firmly in place again. "A Watcher is not quite a Whitelighter but they do have about a similar knowledge. If that Watcher took you in from the very beginning, along with his Slayer, then the Elders wouldn't have interfered, knowing you'd be safe with them."

He looked at Dawn thoughtfully, and then spoke with a surprisingly soft voice "I'm sorry about your sister." When they all stared at him he explained, "If her Watcher has left that means she died or am I wrong?"

"You're not," Willow quietly confirmed.

666

After everything had been said and done Chris waited for the girls to retire to their bedrooms. It was late, approximately one o'clock in the morning, and the brunette teenager that was the former Slayer's sister had to go to school tomorrow – or today, that was. Xander and Anya had left a few minutes ago, leaving the living room couch for him to sleep on if he wanted to. Feeling exhausted himself, the young half-witch let his head fall down on the back of his chair, listening to the noises of doors open, bare feet tapping on the floor and the quiet voices of the girls upstairs. It was nice. He had not heard the nighttime or morning noises of a house full of people, of a family, in a very long time and he missed it. Piper and her sisters did not allow him to sleep in the manor. They said that it was because there was not enough space for that many people but he knew the truth was that they just did not trust him. So now, he enjoyed listening and being trusted enough to stay in the house overnight, pretending he did not care about the sisters' obvious dislike for him.

It amazed the cynical witch how easily the group had accepted him. Living on the Hellmouth and helping a Slayer in her fight for years, he had thought they would be more wary of a stranger. Nevertheless, he did not fool himself. They might have decided to trust him, but Chris knew quite well, he had to prove himself worthy of their trust. The same way he had to prove himself to the sisters.

He did not really know much about Slayers only that they had been created to deal with vampires because, curiously enough, witchcraft did not work on them without serious complications. Slayer lore was not one of his stronger points since the Watchers and their council mostly worked on their own. The only thing he did know was that there was some kind of college in the England of his time.

Sensing a presence behind him, he remembered why he had not gone to sleep yet. After all, how could he sleep when a confrontation was waiting for him?

"You're a vampire, aren't you?" Chris asked, without turning around to face Spike. Only because he did not know about Slayer lore did not mean he did not recognize a vamp when he saw one. If the master vampire was surprised, he did not show it as he moved in front of the boy.

"Got that right, there a problem with that?" he challenged curtly, arms crossing over his chest.

'Pretty impressive,' the tired boy thought. Keeping his cool, he scrunched his face up replying, "Lay off, I'm not here to judge you. I guess there is a reason that you are invited into this home so as long as you don't jump me or anyone I care about we're cool!"

"Talking about that, if you put any of them in danger you will have me to answer me, got that? Who are your other charges anyway?"

"I can't tell you but they pretty much look for trouble if it doesn't come find them first." Chris answered wearily.

"Hmm…with such troublesome charges why are you being assigned two others that live on the Hellmouth of all places? Isn't that like calling for the devil?" The boy probably just imagined it but Spike sounded almost sympathetic there.

"Because Leo wants me fail." He sighed as exhaustion kicked in, "He'll most likely be watching me all along the way to hell."

"Well, that Elder will not be the only one watching you." Just for good measure, Spike gave him a warning glare.

"I figured as much," Chris mumbled. This bunch was lucky to have a friend like this, he acknowledged somewhat jealous. He could not remember anyone who had his back like that, not after...he did not want to go there.

"Great," he announced a bit louder. "That being solved would you let me sleep now? I'm wiped."

Casting a last suspicious glance at the witches strange new Whitelighter Spike left the house to return to his crypt for the daylight hours.

666

The house was still except for the occasional creaking of wood and the rhythmic breathing of its occupants. However, not all of them were asleep. While the young man downstairs unconsciously burrowed deeper into his blankets on the sofa and the teenage girl in a bedroom upstairs was dead to the world, the two young women in the master bedroom were debating the latest events with hushed voices.

"So, what do you think of him, Tara?" Willow asked her lover, knowing she probably had seen things others would never have noticed.

"Well," the shy girl began. "I think he is no threat to us."

"Obviously or we wouldn't have let him stay here." her red-haired friend retorted wryly. "What else, you picked up more than that, didn't you? I mean, you could read his aura!"

"I did," Tara confirmed. "It was... I don't know, confusing."

"Explain," Willow looked at her questioningly.

"Well, the other Whitelighter's aura was, you know all bright and good if somewhat tinged with his current emotions – whatever they might have been. But Chris' was just... dark." She wrinkled her brows, trying to remember and putting into words what she felt back downstairs.

"Dark as in – evil?" her partner questioned quietly.

"We already agreed, that he means no harm," Tara playfully reminded her.

"Oh, yeah. So – how?"

"There was sorrow, pain and fear that kind of dark. I think he is hiding something but when he promised to help us, I didn't feel any lie or second thoughts." She paused again, remembering something different. "There is something familiar to his aura, you know. Like something I know I have seen a hundred times before but I just don't recognize what!"

Sensing her lover's frustration, Willow moved over to place a not so chaste kiss on the other witch's lips.

"Don't worry, sweaty!" another kiss before adding, "We'll figure it out eventually. I mean, it can't hurt to keep him around now that we have our very own Whitelighter, can it?"

Instead of an answer, Tara placed her arms around Willow's neck and kissed her once more lovingly.

666

When Dawn came down the stairs a couple of hours later, she was delighted to find someone already had breakfast ready. After last night, she had expected Willow or Tara to crawl out of bed only to take her to school and then head straight for the comfort of their warm sheets again. Lucky university students had no classes today, she grumbled under her breath. Well, at least she only had to get up for second period.

Smelling hot chocolate and pancakes from the kitchen, she guessed she was wrong though. Hot chocolate and pancakes were there all right and neatly arranged on the countertop but the cook was nowhere in sight. Shrugging, she took her fill and entirely relished the sweet treats. It was a beautiful day outside and she found that for the first time in days she could just enjoy the peace of the morning without the plaguing thoughts of her dead sister.

Perhaps something like Chris was exactly what they needed to shake them into reality again and force them to continue with their lives. She did not want to forget her sister, the ache of her loss still remained, but now she saw that the world did not stop with her sister's death and unless she wanted to follow her, she somehow had to go on.

Finishing her breakfast she went to peek into the living room checking if the new addition to her already weird family was up already. The young man, who was supposed to become her friends' new guardian, fascinated her. Aside from good looks–hey she was a hormone driven teenage girl she had the right to say he looked cute–he was a mysterious stranger, who appeared to be more than the average Whitelighter he described to them the night before. Why else would he have outright refused to take Willow and Tara as new charges? At first, it had made her mad but later she realized that he did not reject her friends but the responsibility of any new charge he could have been assigned to. That fact made her extremely curious as to what it was that was more important to him than his duties as a Whitelighter.

Noting Chris sitting on the couch, obviously awake, she walked over to see what he was doing.

When she came close enough to look over his shoulder, she spied some Tarot cards lying on the tablecloth uncovered. One in particular – the one Chris held contemplating in his left hand – made her shiver.

"That's bad, isn't it?" she whispered fearfully.

Jerking his head around in surprise, he stared at her asking confused, "What?"

Catching her gaze he turned to the card again, "Oh no, don't worry. Death doesn't always mean death. More often than not it just means that things are changing."

Letting out a relieved sigh, she chuckled. "Well, I could have told you that without reading cards. I knew that the moment you showed up."

"I guess." It made Chris show a half smile but she could tell he was still troubled about something.

"What do the rest of them mean?" Dawn curiously eyed the cards spread on the table.

At first, it appeared the Whitelighter had not heard her since his gaze was still lingering on the card in his hand but then he turned around again an apologetic smile in place.

"Sorry, Dawn but that's kind of personal."

"Then you laid the cards for yourself?" Chris nodded silently, giving the girl even more reason to be concerned.

"So, did you make that breakfast I just devoured?" she tried to change the topic after a few seconds of silence, not wanting to stir anything up.

"Uh, yeah I got hungry and took the liberty of using your kitchen." Matter of factly he added, "I figured since you have to go to school soon I'd leave some for you."

"Thanks!" Dawn was really beginning to like this guy.

"Listen about school... could you drive me cause I don't think Willow or Tara will wake up anytime soon…" she trailed off as she noticed the faraway look on Chris' face.

"I gotta go!" he exclaimed suddenly, jumping off the sofa and ready to orb. Taking a last look at her she could see his face soften with regret, "Sorry Dawn but even if I could stay here, I couldn't drive you because I don't have a license. If you need me or if anything happens just call my name and I'll hear you. That goes for all of you."

With that said, he disappeared in a swirl of white blue orbs.

"Great," Dawn muttered with a pout. "That beaming thing would have been so cool!"

666

Returning to Halliwell Manor Chris immediately got the sickening feeling that something was wrong. He did not have much time to dwell on it however because the sisters assaulted him with questions as soon as he materialized. Although he could not make out much more than a few words as they all spoke up together.

"Okay shut up!" The yell was loud enough to actually make them stop. Chris had a hard time not laughing aloud at their shocked faces. Had they known his real identity, or if he would have yelled at them like this in his own time, he was sure he would have gotten a slap on the head for this!

As it were, he only gave them an exasperated look. "Now, can you tell me what is going on, with one after the other this time?"

Phoebe began, "Well we're not really sure what's going on."

Impatiently, Chris raised his eyebrows for them to explain.

"See we all seem to have forgotten some of the things that happened yesterday," Paige was now explaining for her sisters.

"Yeah like that huge fight I apparently started. I only know about that because of a flashback from Elise when she wanted to fire me!" her elder sister spoke up again, clearly agitated.

"You what!" Chris did not believe his ears. Aunt Phoebe initiated a fight with humans and did not even remember it? There was definitely something going on.

"And Flo just got fired because _I _apparently forgot I promised to stand by her side when she had to face that jerk of a boss! Not to mention that I can't remember how that coffee-stain got on my blouse." Aunt Paige wore that pout of hers that she seemed to have perfected.

Shaking his head incredulously, the young Whitelighter looked at the woman who would one day be his mother and asked dreadfully, "What did you forget?"

"Why is everyone asking me that?" Piper sounded clearly annoyed. "How can I remember something I've obviously forgotten?"

Phoebe chimed in, before Piper could blow up in her Whitelighter's face. "Anyway we already have a spell ready that hopefully will bring back our memories."

Now, Chris was decidedly confused. "Then what do you need me for?" he questioned scrunching up his face.

"Duh," that was Paige again. "We thought perhaps you knew something about this you know coming from the future and all that might give us a head start."

"No," the boy began but then suddenly he realized what exactly he was missing in this scene. "Wait where's Wyatt?"

"Who?" three voices said at once. Oh boy, that was so not good.

"You know Wyatt The little baby boy I came here for in the first place?" He looked at them expectantly but the only response he got was total confusion. Great, just great.

"Who's Wyatt, a friend of yours?" Piper asked curiously.

Chris stared at the younger version of his mother. It was so hard sometimes not to forget that she did not know him, let alone love him, and now she did not even remember her firstborn.

_This could be the answer to all your problems, a little insistent voice sounded in his head. If Wyatt did not exist then he could not turn evil and could not destroy everything their family had fought for for so long. Chris knew it was not right even as he thought this. He came back to save Wyatt and to bring back the big brother he knew all his childhood, not to cause him to disappear completely. If so he could just have done what the resistance originally wanted him to do – kill the boy before he turned out the monster he was in his time._

And apart from all that the Charmed Ones would fix this anyway, they always did eventually. Like Phoebe said, they had the spell already written.

So he answered Piper honestly – for the time being. "Apparently you've forgotten Wyatt is yours and Leo's son." He actually managed to get the man's name out without a hint of bitterness or anger.

"My son!" the eldest witch sounded and looked aghast. "What could possibly happen that Leo and I could forget a child of ours?"

"And a nephew of _ours_!" Paige added as bewildered as the other two witches.

"Good question and why didn't it affect me." Chris knew now something was definitely going on. "Actually I know why it didn't affect me."

Already putting the pieces together in his mind, the young man walked over to the Book of Shadows. He begin leafing through it searching the side he knew had to be there somewhere.

"Chris?" Phoebe inquired uncertainly.

"I think I know what's going on. There are these guys called 'cleaners' and it's their job to make sure magic will not be exposed. They well they 'clean up' after magical accidents and if there's a threat to magic they can simply erase it. They could take the witch or warlock or... child away with them and clean everyone's memory of any trace they ever existed. Perhaps Wyatt went overboard with his developing powers which would have caused the cleaners to step into action."

He could practically feel Piper fuming at the thought that anyone dared to take away her baby and make her forget him.

However, it was Phoebe once again who asked the next question. "So how come you're not affected?"

Having found the page he was looking for the young man looked up to face them and replied, "Leo assigned me two new charges and coincidence has it that they live in Sunnydale on the Hellmouth. I was there all night so the cleaner's magic was useless there since the Hellmouth interferes with their kind of power. Besides, it's not as if they need it anyway since people in Sunnydale only know what they want to know. You should see how many accidents and deaths happen there with a 'barbecue-fork' involved."

At their startled stares he explained, "Vampires."

"Oh."

"Anyway back to topic," Paige interrupted Phoebe's surfacing curiosity. "How do we stop them?"

"First of all you get your memories back. You already have a spell, cast it."

"Smartass!" Paige exclaimed impatiently. "I mean how do we vanquish them?"

"You can't."

"What!" Piper exploded.

"Calm down!" her Whitelighter ordered patiently.

"You can't stop them by magic but maybe with your wits. They're needed to keep magic hidden and to keep the balance of things in this world. Meaning, you can't vanquish them without causing serious trouble and that they can't erase you because that would tip the balance towards evil."

Now Chris showed a distinctly impish smirk, "Just imagine what job they would have to do to clean up after the Charmed Ones if they decided to let their magic on the loose."

Identical answering smirks slowly appeared on the three sisters' faces. Before anyone could start talking again the familiar sound of orbs interrupted their conspiratorial silence.

"Leo!" Chris welcomed the newcomer with a fake smile. God how he hated that man! Sometimes he just wanted to blow the whole truth up in his face that _yes_ he was his son and his precious twice-blessed Wyatt was the black sheep of the family not him. Then again Leo hadn't believed him when he had knew who he was so what chances were there for him to believe the guy who had taken over his position as the Charmed Ones' Whitelighter and banished him to Valhalla?

"There you are." Leo sounded less than pleased but there was an almost apologizing air around him. Chris really wished he did not have to take the empathy-blocking potion right now. Unfortunately, it did not only block his feelings to Aunt Phoebe but it also blocked him from sensing any other's feelings. "Aren't you supposed to take care of your charges?"

He is _so full_ of it, he thought angry. "I _am_ taking care of my charges unless you wanted the sisters to be taken over by another Whitelighter!"

With a little disbelief and an adequate amount of satisfaction, Chris noted the uncomfortable shift in his father's posture before he replied, "No... can I talk to you in private for a second?"

Chris hesitated uncertainly, what did he want now? He had not done anything these past few days – at least nothing Leo would possibly know about.

Piper's voice sounded encouraging, "Go on we've got this covered."

Having no other excuse to get out of the situation Chris followed the Elder down the stairs.

"So," Paige looked determinedly around at her sisters. "Let's get started."

"_Moments lost make witches wonder_

_Warlock's plot or demon's plunder_

_If this is not a prank_

_Help us to fill in the blank."_

666

The girls found out about the fight and coffee-stained blouse the hard way, along with the reason of why the Cleaners took Wyatt away. The little boy had let a very large dragon loose over San Francisco. While a part of them was proud that he accomplished such a feat, they were mostly concerned about loosing him again. Eventually they managed to convince the Cleaners to leave their son, or nephew, in his mother's care with the little help of Chris' earlier suggestion.

So when morning came – again – Wyatt remained in the lives and most importantly the minds of his family this time.

When Chris awoke he pretended to still be asleep on the couch in the Summers' home. For a while, he laid there quiet and drinking in the peaceful and friendly atmosphere of the early hours of morning. Here, away from the sisters and away from San Francisco, it was as if he could let his guard down and could forget about his fears, his pain and his _mission_ without feeling guilty about it. He knew it would not last but he intended to enjoy the moment for as long as he could.

It reminded him of the better days in his time. Days when Wyatt was still the big brother he loved, when his family still believed in him and when they were all still _alive._ He also remembered some of those rare moments after everything had went to hell in a hand basket were he spent time with his little girl and the woman he loved. God how he missed them. It hurt so much to think that he might not see Lily or Bianca again but there was no one who could have done this job other than him. It had been their very last option after everything else had failed. So now, he was here stranded in a time and in a place that was not his with a family that did not know him or trust him. As much as he did not want it to it still hurt badly nevertheless.

He picked himself up off the couch with a weary sigh realizing which way his thoughts had taken. Well then, he was hungry anyway.

Half an hour and a few pancakes later he found himself once more in the living room where he was contemplating his new situation while walking around the room and taking note of the various pictures standing around.

Man, he really could do with a little advice right now. It was true what he told the Slayer's sister and her friends yesterday the sisters and Wyatt would always be his first priority. Nevertheless, he really liked this group and it would not be so bad to be their Whitelighter. Still, it would be unfair to them.

Bringing his arms down from where they had been crossed over his chest, he was suddenly aware of the small bulge in the pocket of his trousers. A sudden smile lit up his features as he brought the content to the fore. It was an old game of Tarot the heirloom of Bianca's family. He could remember Lily shyly giving it to him with her huge bright eyes and quavering lips. It had been right before Bianca and he went to Halliwell manor to get him back in time.

Well he had asked for advice so he might as well try it. While Tarot did not work like Phoebe's premonitions when it came to seeing the future, it was quite helpful if you did not know what to do.

Chris sat down on the couch while already shuffling the cards. There were three fields to fill head, heart, gut, meaning ratio, feeling and subconscious. What he got when he played the cards was the Jester, the Hermit and Death.

Yeah, that was great. The Jester showed he was a rebel not belonging anywhere and trying to find his way. He was hard to bring down and had a different view on the world and the people around him, which was an advantage at times. Actually, it was rather befitting if he thought about it.

Then the Hermit which said he lived on his own, having small to no contact to other people and then returning to his inner self. Obviously, his heart thought he needed to concentrate on himself for a while.

Lastly Death, which was not as bad a card as most people thought it to be. Mostly it just indicated a serious change. There could be a certain hope in that prospect because change was not always of the bad.

Maybe he really should accept his new duty. Having an overprotective vampire around would most certainly be interesting.

"That's bad, isn't it?" The sudden intrusion startled him out of his reverie. Looking at Dawn he asked her confused, "What?"

The girl did not reply but kept staring at something on the table. He turned around and saw the last card in his hands. He had not even noticed that he had not put it down.

"Oh- no don't worry," Chris tried to reassure the teen. "Death doesn't always mean death. More often than not it just means that things are changing."

The young half-breed spent the next few minutes talking to Dawn. He liked the young woman. She was witty, smart and not afraid to kick your ass if she thought it necessary. He really was sorry for not being able to drive her to school but he could not afford being caught without a license. Darryl might cover for the witches and him but Darryl was in SF and not in Sunnydale. At her suggestion to do that 'beaming thing' he had to laugh. Lucky for him, Xander rang the bell just a few seconds later. Having to go to work himself, he wanted to spare Willow and Tara from getting out of bed after last night's unexpected session.

They were only out of the door when Chris heard someone orbing in behind him. He turned around to face Leo staring down at him. The Elder wore a curious expression and he seemed to be equally displeased and apologetic.

"Listen Chris," he hesitantly began. "I thought about yesterday and you were right." Astonished Chris listened to Leo's clumsy reluctant apology. "You did come from the future for one purpose only, to save Wyatt. It's not fair or for all our best interests to distract you from that with other charges…"

"Stuff it Leo," Chris interrupted him hastily with a curt gesture of his hand. "I'll do it."

Leo blinked a few times before making sure he heard right, "What?"

"I'll do it," the younger one repeated calmly. "As long as it doesn't interfere too much with my mission and besides Sunnydale's like Disney World for demons so it might be useful sticking around a bit."

The Elder stared at him clearly astounded. "Alright," he slowly agreed. "If you say so."

His future son glanced at the floor not facing his father but nodded determinedly nonetheless.

666

Dawn watched from the shadows of the doorframe as the scene between the two Whitelighters unfolded. She had forgotten her schoolbag in the kitchen and when she had came back in to get it she witnessed the other Whitelighter from yesterday orb in. With only a bit of a guilty conscience and a tad frightened, she listened in on them. She did not want Chris to abandon them so soon after he had come into their lives. Her two friends were likely to get a new Whitelighter assigned to them and she did not want Chris to leave. She wanted him to stay damnit!

So when Chris told the older man to stuff it and that he would do the job she wanted to run in and throw herself at him in a huge hug. She was sure she had a goofy smile on her face though.

Only after she had sneaked out of the house did she become aware of another thing Leo had mentioned, _He is from the future!_

tbc

A/N: Well, my second try at fanfiction. It's a Chris-centric fic, so I put it in the Charmed section not anywhere else. I intend to continue this story, so tell me if you liked it or if I should stop right here.

Oh yeah, the little bit of German at the beginning was taken out of the song 'Und wenn ein Lied...' by 'Soehne Mannheims'. Gee, that sounds weird. I didn't translate it at the beginning, cause I like the German words better (I am not that good at translations), but for anyone who's interested:

_Tell a little bit of truth,  
__See, the desert lives.  
__Shed a little light on things,  
__And look how the veil lifts up.  
__A desert made of concrete and asphalt,  
__But it lives and opens a rift  
__That shows you something new, shows that the past yields,  
__Even if you can't feel anything but pain._

Told you, not too good. Oh well.

Read an review please.

P.S.: Chapter had been beta-read and reedited by shadowhisper. A huge thanks!


	2. Oh Brave New World

Title: A Whitelighter's Priority 

Author: rachelAbendstern

Summary: Not the sisters are being sucked into pocket-realms... And you get to know Lily :)

Spoilers: Season 6 Charmed; I forgot to mention BtVS last chapter, 'The Gift'

Disclaimer: Neither Buffy nor Charmed is mine, and I don't make any money with it. Lily though belongs to me XP

2. Oh Brave New World

_I feared not in the Ivory tower._

_Imprisonment you'll find,_

_It lies within your heart, your soul, your spirit and your mind._

"Hey guys!" Wearing a very cheerful smile on her face, Phoebe skipped to a halt in the living room of the manor. "Guess what! Jason invited me to Hong Kong this weekend!"

"Oh, honey that's great!" Piper looked up at her sister smiling fondly, arranging various snacks and sweets on the table while balancing Wyatt on her hip.

Chris, working through the Book of Shadows on the small table, watched them interact incredulously. He had told them about this demon chasing after witches only this morning and what did they do? Planning dates and – and what _did_ Piper do anyway? They did not take him serious; they had a demon to vanquish! This was so not cool!

A few weeks had passed since Chris' first day on the Hellmouth and he had orbed back and forth ever since. It was not that bad actually, the guys – or rather girls – in Sunnydale did pretty good on their own. Vampires were their usual problem, they had years of practice with that whereas he did not. The few demons that had turned out to be a problem, they could deal with after a little help or advise on Chris' part so far. Actually, most of the times he orbed there, were because the sisters or the manor or his whole situation here became too suffocating for him to bear, rather than the girls calling for help. He had not had very many human friends in his life but he had taken quickly to the odd group there. Even though one was a vampire formerly known as 'William the Bloody' – God had he laughed as they explained exactly where that nickname had come from – and another one was a former vengeance demon, who was now dating an entirely normal, if a little cynical human male. They all had accepted him without question, even Spike after the little warning that first night. Which Chris would be sure to listen to because he really did not want a pissed off master vampire on his tail.

Tuning back to the conversation between the two witches, he heard Phoebe ask, "You have guests today?"

"You have guests today?" He repeated aghast. God, did they even listen to him?

Piper turned a defiant glare at him. "Yes I do! We still have a life, you know?"

"You have a demon to vanquish or didn't you listen to me?" Chris tried to stay calm, he really did, but he could not keep his annoyance from showing. "Putting your personal lives before your Wiccan duties will be your downfall one day!" He meant that literally…

"Maybe so, but not today. Today, I'm just going to have a nice quiet afternoon with my friends." With eyes hard as steel, Piper looked determined. She could really scare him sometimes.

"Yeah, and I'm going to go shopping for the weekend." The two of them were already on their way out of the room, so the boy stood up to follow them.

"No! Listen to me, just for one time, _listen_!" His powers were hard to keep in check; their disregard of the seriousness of their situation made him agitated. "I know this demon doesn't sound like much of a threat. But what will you do if he catches you off-guard? What will happen if he sucks the three of you into his pocket-realms all at once? You won't even notice because he'll form your respective worlds after your own desires! Until these worlds kill you, that is! You may be stronger than him, but you will have hell to pay if he catches you separated!"

Heaving a deep sigh, Phoebe leaned her elbow on his shoulder and looked up at his face with a small pout on her lips. "Well then, we'll just have to hope you'll find a way to get us out in time!"

Chris was not impressed. "As much as I would like to thank you for your _faith _in me... This is not the only demon out there and one day they will get you! So, yes, you can have your personal lives but only after you dealt with the demon!"

The two women looked at each other speculatively, and at first, Chris had hope that he had gotten through to them for once. But then the eldest sister shrugged and continued towards the kitchen, adjusting her baby boy on her other hip on the way, closely followed by her younger sibling. Who waved a hand at her incredulous Whitelighter while calling over her shoulder, "Relax Chris, we have everything under control."

Chris stood there a little lost, gaping after them in disbelief. "I don't believe it! I would accomplish more talking to a wall!" _I would vanquish those demons myself if I could risk revealing my witch powers._

The last thing he heard before everything went black was the wind picking up and an odd sound of something heavy colliding with one thing or another.

666

A thud could be heard from the entrance hall as the wind picked up, causing the sisters to slow their pace and turn around.

"What was that?" Piper sounded more annoyed than worried.

"I don't…" Phoebe stopped dead when she saw a shaggy demon standing over an unconscious and bleeding Chris. A vortex had opened up in the middle of the hall, sucking everything in its reach into it.

"Oh my God!" The surprised empath tightly gripped onto the doorframe, "_Chris!_"

Chris was inevitably gliding towards the hole in the floor as the wind steadily picked up in volume, while the demon standing by gleefully watched. Piper desperately tried to blow him up but only managed to scrap his shoulder. There was too much debris flying around by now causing her aim to be completely off. She could not hold on to Wyatt, the doorframe and use her powers all at the same time. They couldn't do anything but watch helplessly as the limp figure of the dark-haired youth was pulled into the maelstrom, clinging to the wooden frame for dear life now, while the infant was crying his heart out.

Then as sudden as it had started, it was over. The vortex closed with a sickening hiss, the demon calmly stating, "Not exactly what I came here for but powerful nonetheless."

He vanished just in time to avoid Piper's angry attack, a vase behind his previous position exploding instead.

666

They were all three sitting around the living room table, quietly consulting the Book of Shadows and trying to scry for their missing Whitelighter, while baby Wyatt was sitting in his playpen, playing with a wooden locomotive. Except for the toddler, the atmosphere was undoubtedly subdued.

Hands over her face and trying to calm herself Phoebe broke the silence first, "God, we should have listened to him. He tried to warn us and we didn't even listen!"

"Phoebe, even if we had listened, this could have happened nevertheless." Piper, ever the practical one, tried to comfort her distressed sister.

"She's right, you know. It's in the manual, and Chris knew the risk probably better than we do." Paige only wanted to cheer her sister up as well, but she got a good shock when Phoebe suddenly yelled at her. "Don't talk about him as if he's already dead! We can still save him, that's what we do, saving innocents!"

Paige quickly disguised the snort that escaped her at the word 'innocent' describing Chris. She really did not want Phoebe to get even more upset.

"But how, sweetie?" Piper asked reasonably. "I can't find this demon anywhere in the Book and we don't know what he wants. We cannot even find Chris. Or has your scrying already worked?"

"No." Phoebe unhappily admitted. "Maybe he's on another plane; we couldn't scry for him then, could we?"

"No," they all agreed.

Silence once again reined the room, until Paige stood up to stretch and get something to drink from the kitchen. On her way to the other side of the hall, her eyes caught sight of some piece of cloth caught between the banisters. They had obviously not done quite as good a job at cleaning up as they thought they had done. Upon a closer look, her eyes lit up as she realized what she was holding in her hand. Barging back into the living room, she grinned at her sisters.

"Maybe we can't scry for Chris but we can scry for the demon! Luckily, he left us a little souvenir. And even better, there's enough blood on it for a vanquishing potion!"

"Vanquishing potion?" A voice behind them asked, "For what demon?"

Leo was standing in the doorframe all of a sudden, they hadn't even heard him orb in.

"Leo!" a startled Piper exclaimed. "What are you doing here?" She told him that he could not just orb in as he pleased. She just could not stand being so near him and not being able to have him.

"I was supposed to take Wyatt today. Did you forget?" Now it was Leo's turn to look confused. Piper usually did not forget that.

"Wyatt?" His ex-wife cast a blank look at the toddler playing peacefully in his playpen. Of course, how could she have forgotten? Well, she knew how she had forgotten, with all the commotion and all, but still. "Oh. Sure. Just let me get his things." She quickly stood and walked upstairs to do just that.

666

Cold water splashed against his skin, he felt soft cushions beneath him. A familiar voice sounded in his ears and he tried to make out what it was saying.

"Melinda Penelope Halliwell! Look at what you did to your father! That ought to be a lesson not to use your powers so ruthlessly!"

"I'm sorry, Ma!" he heard a teary voice reply and tried hard to focus on regaining control over his body. What the hell had happened? How did his wife and daughter get here?

"I'm up," Chris groaned, and another person sniggered. "I told you he has a thick head!"

The young man blinked against the blinding light that assaulted his eyes. "Oh, har har! What happened?" he asked, bringing his hand up to the side of his head, when a mean little gremlin started to pound on large drums inside his skull. The last thing he remembered were Phoebe and Piper retreating to the kitchen.

Someone caught his hand though and brought it back down. "Lily decided she wanted her flowers to fly. Unfortunately, she lost control over one of the pots and you happened to be in the way." Bianca told him, mirth shining clearly through her words despite the lecture she had given Lily only minutes ago.

"Oh, great, brought down by a flower pot!" Something did not seem right about that, but he was still too out of it, to put the pieces together.

"Don't worry. Leo, will be here in a moment to take care of that nasty cut you got there." What the hell did he care if that bastard would be here or not? Bianca ought to know better...

He had no time to venture further in these thoughts, as a small creature clumsily tried to crawl on his lap. When he blinked down, he saw a pair of watery bright green eyes, framed by long strands of dark hair, and the timid voice of his little girl said: "I'm sorry, Daddy, really I am!"

It was good, to see her again. During these last few months, he had always been afraid that someday he would not remember what she looked like, how she smelt like, the way she talked and moved. The same went for Bianca, too. He probably had missed so much already, and even though he did not want to become the kind of father Leo had been for him, never there when he needed him the most, he knew that they did not have any other choice. Not if they wanted to see Lily grow up without fear and unharmed in body and soul.

"Oh, hush, darling," he soothed the little girl. "We wouldn't want your flowers to have missed the opportunity to get the better of me, now would we?" Chris gathered the now smiling girl into his arms, casting a happy smile to his wife, who was kneeling at his side.

Why was it so hard to remember why they should not be here all of a sudden? Why did it cast a chill down his spine to see his mother standing in front of him, smiling down at the young family?

666

Now Leo was sitting in front of the Book of Shadows, looking up the demon that had gotten to Chris, without success. "There is no demon in here that fits your description. And you say Chris knew of him?"

Phoebe was only nodding her head, still trying to scry, though this time for the demon and not for the young Whitelighter himself.

A loud sigh from the other end of the table brought their attention to Paige. The youngest Halliwell sister looked at them with irritation written all over her face. "Maybe we should just leave him where ever he is right now!" At their accusative glares, she exclaimed annoyed: "What? You cannot tell me, you have not thought about it, too! I do not trust him! Every time he opens his mouth, he lies to us! Wyatt is in danger? Ha, he cannot even tell us which demon that is supposed to be a threat to him! And even if it was true, we would be there to take care of it!"

"But maybe we aren't there, Paige," Phoebe quietly replied, looking up at her sister through solemn eyes. "He didn't really tell us much about that future he comes from. Maybe we aren't there to take care of things anymore. I cannot say I trust him completely he is definitely hiding something. But for now I just want to trust that he does what he thinks is best and get him the hell back to us."

"She's right, you know?" At the witches' incredulous stares, Leo shrugged a little uncomfortably. "I mean, if what he told us is true, we will need any help we can get, to stop his future from happening."

"You certainly sounded a different tune not so long ago!" Paige remarked wryly.

"I know," the Elder admitted honestly. "But after seeing how well he does with his other charges, I decided to give him a chance. He's trying, that much I can see."

Paige could not help but nag some more. "So you don't believe anymore, that he is the one who banished you to Valhalla?"

At that, Leo pulled a face. "I prefer not to think about that for the moment."

"Ha, I knew it!"

"Paige!" Phoebe interrupted her little sister with a sharp voice. "Let it go."

Silence settled again over them until Leo slammed the Book shut, asking instead: "Do you remember what Chris told about the demon?"

Holding her hands up, Paige washed her hands in innocence. "I wasn't there, I don't know anything."

Her sister sighed, rubbing one hand over her eyes tiredly. "He told us something about being sucked into pocket-realms."

Collecting her thoughts, she tried to remember more. "Yeah, that and the demon shaping the worlds after our own desires."

Suddenly, she turned pale, all color draining from her face. "He said those worlds would kill their victim eventually…"

666

A warm glow spread through his head and the quiet voice of his father stated mirthfully „Well, that should bring you up to par again. And next time try and avoid any flying flower-pots."

The young man mumbled something the others did not quite catch. "What was that? " Piper asked, grinning.

"I said," Chris now spoke overly pronouncing each word, "that wasn't my fault."

"That coming from the guy who was defeated by his daughter's flowers." A new voice deadpanned.

They all turned around to see Wyatt standing, smirking, in the doorway, watching his family. Something was nagging at the back of Chris' mind that this was wrong in so many ways but he couldn't be bothered with it anymore. This was what he wanted, this was how it was supposed to be, his family all good and friendly and alive and if all this was a dream, he never wanted to wake up again.

He grunted, as his daughter jumped up out of his grasp, squealing: "Uncle Wy!" and attaching herself to the tall man's waist in a bear hug, while Chris shot his older brother an evil glare.

"A pot, Wy!" he clarified indignantly. "It was a flower-_pot_!"

Wyatt, who now lifted Lily up into his arms, exchanged a roguish grin with the little imp holding onto his neck. "Sure Chris, whatever you say."

666

Back in the manor, the real-world Piper was close to an emotional breakdown.

Oh God, everything was falling out of her hands. What was she supposed to be doing?

She was sitting on her bed, her head clutched in her hands, only barely restraining the sobs that caught in her chest. Everything was falling apart!

She had not been prepared to see Leo. She had completely forgotten he was supposed to take Wyatt today.

Part of her resented Chris for putting them in this situation in the first place. If it had not been for the neurotic secretive Whitelighter from the future, Leo would never have become an Elder. Maybe, if they were too late to save him, everything would go back to normal, Leo and she could be together again.

Even as she thought this, she hated herself for it. Things between her husband and her had not been peachy even before Chris had made his first appearance. Although a part of her wanted to mistrust the young man, another part could not help but be drawn to him, could not help wonder how bad his future must have been like if he decided to change the past deliberately. For all they knew, he could endanger his very own existence by coming here.

She felt guilty, too. Chris had tried to warn them about the demon, and they had not listened. The demon took Chris instead and if they did not manage to save him, it would be their entire fault. Her fault, she was the oldest and had to be in charge.

Get your act together or we will be too late! She admonished herself sharply.

Curtly brushing the tears out of her eyes, she slipped some diapers into the already packed bag and closed the zipper with a determined motion.

666

Gif stood in his lair, greedily watching the various scenes displayed in the water of his well. Originally, he had aimed for one of the Charmed Ones. Being powerful themselves, their desires were sure to be the most powerful he had eaten on so far. It turned out though, that this one was even better. Whatever he was – and the demon had a notion, that the young man was no ordinary witch – he was powerful, so were his desires.

The demon did not quite know what to make of the pictures he saw. One of the persons in there was obviously the Charmed One, who had tried to blow him up back in their stronghold, only a bit older. Frankly, he didn't care either as long as it had the desired result. Gif did not care what worlds his victims created for them. The farther from reality those worlds were built; the more devastating their downfall was. Gif could not contain his anticipation for this one to fall, and started to walk back and forth around the water, cheerfully rubbing his hands all the while.

666

The doorbell startled everyone out of his or her respective preoccupations.

"I'll get it!" Piper called, briskly moving down the stairs. Her mouth dropped, as she realized who was at the door. Apparently, Leo was not the only one she had forgotten about today. A young woman with skin the color of creamed coffee stood outside with her blonde, longhaired friend.

"Marie!" The smile on Piper's face was decidedly panicky. "You're early!"

The girls looked at her skeptically. "Piper, we're five minutes late, actually!"

"Oh! Um," desperately trying to get her mind working, her body moved on auto-pilot, letting the two in. "Why don't you go ahead into the living room. "Oh shit, did she really just say that?

Behind her, she could hear Phoebe hissing into her ear: "Piper, what are you doing?" Turning around, she saw her sister had put on a strained smile for the visitors, carrying a bunch of maps and the scrying crystal in one hand.

"I'm sorry, but has something happened?" The tanned young woman asked, obvious worry tingling her voice. "Should we cancel today?"

"Oh, no!" As she felt Phoebe's elbow connecting with her ribs painfully Piper released she still had no control over her body. "It's just…" She trailed off, when she saw the women coming in. Had she really invited that many guests over?

"I told you, we should have asked her first," the blonde said to Marie.

"No, no, it's not a problem." Damn, why did she keep saying those things? "Just, would you mind, starting without me? My sisters and I have to take care of a... family problem first. Leo can give you a hand, if you need something." Again, she had put her foot into her mouth...

"Leo?" The two friends looked at each other confused. "We thought you two split up?"

"We did," the oldest Hallliwell confirmed searching for a credible explanation. "He is here to take Wyatt for the day." Well, truth mostly worked the best...

Seeing no more girls coming in, she meant to close the door, but Marie stopped her with an impish grin.

"Ah!" she exclaimed. "Wait for my models!"

"Models?" Just then, three tall muscular handsome men stepped through the door sparing the other women the answer.

One of them threw Piper a winning smile asking casually, "So, where do we change?"

It was then, Piper spotted Leo standing just outside the overflowing living room, Wyatt on his hip, shaking his head vigorously in obvious horror.

666

"Don't you think, that was a bit mean, leaving your Ex down there?"

Despite her words, Paige wore an evil grin, while she was working on the vanquishing potion.

"Oh, I don't know…" she was cut off as her remaining sibling called excitedly, "Got him!"

With a huge smile plastered onto her face, Phoebe turned towards her sisters. "He's in the Underworld, we should have known!"

"Well now," Piper sighed. "We have his location, the vanquishing potion shouldn't -" a puff was heard from where Paige was standing and a cloud of smoke rose up from the cauldron, signaling the potion was ready, "- take too much longer," she finished her sentence wryly. "And I have the spell written to get Chris out of his fantasy-world. What are we waiting for?"

While Phoebe pocketed five binding crystals, Paige corked the small glass-bottle filled with the potion and walked over to the other two.

"Here goes nothing." Clasping hands, she orbed them into the Underworld.

666

They were sitting at dinner, the whole family.

Chris was sandwiched between his brother on his left side and Bianca on the other. Opposite them, Lily was trying to convince her grandmother, that it was a completely fair deal for her to steal her grandfather's dessert, if he got her vegetables instead. Trying to conceal her laughter, Aunt Phoebe had put her napkin over her mouth, while Aunt Paige was her usual outright self and laughed aloud over the little imp's antics.

Just as they were about to put the dishes away, a low rumble went through house, resounding awkwardly in their stomachs.

All of their heads shot up at once. "What was that?" Lily asked the question that was going through all of their minds.

"I don't know," Chris' father answered warily. He was trying to sense what was wrong with help of his Whitelighter powers, as were his two sons. They could not sense anything supernatural though, and were about to dismiss it. Then, another rumble, louder this time, shocked them into realization.

"Earthquake!" Bianca was the first one to move, gathering her daughter into her arms, looking nervously up to the ceiling. Chris unconsciously drew nearer to the two of them, laying a protective arm over his lover's shoulder.

"Come on," they heard Wyatt demand. "Let's get out of the house!"

Hardly a second had passed, when all hell broke loose.

Suddenly, the floor seemed to shift under their feet, the dishes were rattling in the cabinets, the sound of glass breaking and Lily screaming in fear. In panic, everyone rushed for the front door, Chris shoving Bianca in front of him none too gently, trying to steady her at the same time.

A crash, a scream from behind, and Chris, upon whirling around, saw Aunt Phoebe bleeding from deep cuts all over her left side, a mirror laying shattered into thousand pieces at her feet.

He wanted to scream, yell at her to get the hell out of the house, when another wave hit them, making the earth shudder, swiping him off his feet. The impact pressed the air out of him, the chaos around him dimming for a second in intensity, before coming back twice as violent. Screams, smashes, sobbing, creaking, and rattling pierced his ears, and when he looked up again, he saw the walls collapsing in on them...

666

Perfect, this was absolutely fantastic. Gif stood over his well, evil little eyes glinting with impatience and a hint of satisfaction. His fists clenched and unclenched excitedly, as he watched the building starting to collapse on the witch.

He was so obsessed with his latest victim, that he almost did not hear the orb-lights behind him. Whirling around on his heels, he caught sight of the Charmed Ones and almost immediately prepared to open a vortex. That one second of shock however was enough for the blonde one to yell two words: "Crystals! Circle!"

By the time he wanted to move, he couldn't, caught in a binding field.

Letting out a string of colorful curses, he spat: "What the hell do you want here?"

The shorthaired one-step ahead, confidently replying, "Vanquishing you and getting our Whitelighter back!"

Whitelighter? Well, what the heck did he care what that boy was!

"You're already too late for that!" he smirked at them, feeling the energy emitting from his pocket-realm even through the crystal field. This world was now literally collapsing in on itself.

Alarmed, the blonde-haired woman stepped forward, edging a look into the reflecting water. "Chris!" she cried shocked before briskly turning back to her sisters. "The spell, quick!"

Gif looked on quite sure of himself. No one was able to break his worlds except for him. What were they trying to accomplish anyway? The boy was already dying and he could feel it. He calmly listened to the witches reciting.

_"In this time and in this hour,_

_We call upon the ancient power,_

_To break his world, help him flee,_

_Get Chris out of this misery."_

Wind picked up, a flash lit up the cave, and the next thing he knew the witches had destroyed his world. How was that possible? The figure lying there on the ground seemed more dead than alive, but he should not be lying here at all! That was not supposed to be happening!

Gif looked stunned at the two younger witches, his mind not yet willing to process what happened only moments ago. He never saw the little glass bottle coming, that hit him with an almost cheerful split, before he went up into flames, screaming his anger not pain.

666

They quickly walked over to the crumpled form of their young Whitelighter, taking in the blood, bruises and wounds with genuine concern.

"Oh my god, oh my god," Phoebe prayed, getting down on her knees next to Chris, carefully touching a bloodied cheek. He was still breathing, but barely. "We need Leo!"

"Leo!" Her sister promptly called. "Get your ass down here, fast!"

666

A few hours later.

It was a late, not completely uncomfortable humid, night.

Halliwell manor was sound asleep after the exhausting events of the afternoon. Except for one lone figure, still trying to make sense of everything that had occurred that day.

Chris was leaning on the doorframe to Wyatt's room, watching the infant sleep peacefully. His rips still hurt and he was moving more careful than normal but overall, nothing remembered of the bruised, broken, barely alive body the sisters had saved out of the ruins. Nothing but his eyes this is.

His last look at his world would always be burned into his memory was, real or not. Wyatt, his big brother had lain in front of him, eyes open, staring unseeing, a huge wound on his forehead, blonde hair, dirty with gore, plastered onto his cheek. Bianca, his beautiful raven-haired lover, moaning in pain, back towards him, long hair spilled over the splintered bloody floor. Lily his little girl half-sprawled over her mother, so quiet, so still, not moving…

Shaking his head angrily, he stepped into the nursery, wanting to get rid of those awful pictures. He kept telling himself they were not real. But if he did not succeed in his mission maybe they would be.

Chris crossed the room, to take a closer look at Wyatt. He looked so innocent, so cute as a baby. If he did not know better, he never would have believed, that this little boy would grow up to be the Source of all Evil in the future. This was exactly why he had not told the sisters and Leo. They would never believe that their precious, adorable Wyatt was the cause, that Chris' future was a living hell.

He kneeled down beside his baby big brother, head leaning against the bars of the cot, his bright green eyes dulled with the memories that kept replaying in his mind.

"I know you can be good, Wy," he whispered to the infant. "I know it. I saw it! I refuse to believe that this was all just wishful thinking, You can be good!"

A little startled, he witnessed the baby's bright blue eyes open sleepily, looking him straight in the face after a moment of adjustment. Carefully, ready to withdraw, Chris extended his hand, indulging the sudden urge to stroke his brother's soft blonde locks. It surprised him, when no force field came up to fend him off, but it definitely brought a small, happy smile onto his features.

Perhaps, there was hope for them after all.

666

When Spike let himself in in the Summers' home to get something to eat, he caught the by now familiar scent of the girls' new Whitelighter.

That boy was a riddle to him. Always watching his back, never relaxing was not how a Whitelighter was supposed to act. True, Chris let his guard down around them more and more, but that only confirmed the vampire's suspicion, that there was more to the cynical young man than he had told them. Ordinary Whitelighters did not sleep over at one of their charges', did not take refuge on their living room couches at night. That was exactly what Chris was doing; Spike saw that after the first few times it had happened. The boy appeared tough enough but deep down, the vampire was sure, he was more afraid than anything else.

Having warmed his mug of blood, Spike stood there, watching Chris sleep for a minute or two, without turning the lights on. He could smell the sorrow coming of him. Sighing, he walked over, put the cup down on the table, and went to put a blanket over the still figure. In this house, he was going to turn mushy, he was.

"Do you believe in second chances, Spike?"

The soft voice startled him, although he would never have admitted that. How was it this human could do this, knowing Spike was there without seeing or hearing him? Not just Spike for that matter.

"You're asking _me_ that?" he replied somewhat amused. "I walk around this house, hunting with kids, that I used to hunt down, and you are asking me, if I believe in second chances?"

Chris opened his eyes, a small smile playing around the corners of his lips. "Yeah, I guess."

He sat up slowly, minding his healing ribs, to make room for the vampire on the couch. The careful moves did not go unnoticed by Spike, though.

"You alright, mate?" he asked more curious than concerned. At least, he told himself, he was not concerned. He had a rep to uphold, damn it!

At being caught so easily, the young man in front of him grimaced in annoyance. "I will be."

Indeed curious now, Spike sat down beside him. "What happened?"

Chris gave him a wry smile through the darkness. "What's bound to happen in a job like mine, I got caught by a demon."

"Oh, how come you're still sitting here then?" An evil grin passed over the bleach-blondes features, getting a sardonic snort out of the younger one. "Gee, you make me feel so loved now!"

After Spike's laughter had died down, Chris continued. "The sisters apparently decided, they didn't want their neurotic Whitelighter dead, after all."

"Your other charges?"

Chris nodded mutely; sleep beginning to claim him back already.

They sat in compatible silence for a while, before Chris' restrained chuckles disrupted the quietness once more.

"What's so funny about a demon catching you?" Spike asked confused.

"Nothing, about the demon?" Chris was still holding back laughter, his green eyes shining merrily through a curtain of dark hair. "But since the sisters went to save me Leo had to watch a couple of male strippers with some friends of Piper's!"

"Eeew!" Despite his instantaneous reaction, a smirk spread on the vampire's face. He really would have liked to witness the self-righteous Elder in that peculiar situation!

"Yeah," Chris replied, still smiling. "I never saw Leo come to my rescue more eagerly!"

tbc

A/N: Hey there! Since I made it through my first exam this year unscathed (yay, I did it ;) ) I decided, to put this chapter on here a little bit earlier than planned. Hope you liked it as well.

I think, next chapter will play a bit more on the Hellmouth again, so stay tuned.

Any question or remarks,tell me.

And for those who didn't know: William the _Bloody_ stands for 'bloody awful poet', or at least, I liked this explanation best ;)

The verse at the beginning this time is from 'Ivory Tower' by Blackmore's Night.

P.S.: chapter edited and revised thanks to shadowhisper. Thanks :)


	3. Desperate Measures

Title: A Whitelighter's Priority

Author: rachelAbendstern

Summary: The Sunnydale crowd discovers Chris' secret

Spoilers: Season 6 Charmed; I forgot to mention BtVS last chapter, 'The Gift'

Disclaimer: Neither Buffy nor Charmed is mine, and I don't make any money with it. Lily though belongs to me XP

3. Desperate Measures

_Oh how I wish  
For soothing rain  
All I wish is to dream again  
My loving heart  
Lost in the dark  
For hope Id give my everything_

_"No!"_

_Chris ducked under another blow, growing alarmingly tired by now. The witch or demon or whatever she was, was fast, that much he had to give her credit for._

_The black haired devil had attacked in a deserted alleyway on his way back to the hideout. He had been on provisions duty, arms loaden with food and water supplies when he had sensed a presence behind him. Two long years of honed reflexes had kicked in and caused him to drop the bags, avoiding the attack he knew was coming._

_He just barely managed to deflect that first stroke, throwing the witch against a housewall with his own powers in the process._

_"He said, you'd be difficult!" the young woman had stated, unphased, when she got back onto her feet._

_She was beautiful Chris noted as he watched her cross her arms over her chest, looking coyly back at him. Tight black spandex clothes covered a lean sinewy body, shiny black hair spilling over her shoulders down her back. Yes, she was beautiful; and entirely too dangerous to let his hormones take control over his body now!_

_"What do you want?" he asked her defiantly, watching her with suspicious eyes._

_She cocked an eyebrow as if he should have known the answer already. "What do you think I want? Your brother desires your presence and he sent me to get you back to him."_

_A shiver went through the younger witch's body at the mentioning of his older brother, together with a wave of contradicting feelings. He had loved his brother a long time ago, how could he now fight against him? But the monster who sent this woman after him was no longer the brother he once knew. That brother had seiced to exist the year their mother had died._

_"He sent an assassin after me?" he asked, feeling betrayed despite himself._

_"Oh no, no assassin. Actually you have the choice to come with me willingly," the woman explained calmly, "or have me strip your powers and drag you back to him like a disobedient pet."_

_The boy bristled at the comment. He was no pet! And he damn well wouldn't go back to him, willingly or otherwise!_

_"You can tell my_ dear brother_," he told her, sarcasm dripping from his words, "that he should know better than that. I will not go with you, so you can just leave now!"_

_Clear bone-chilling laughter spilled from her lips then. "I will leave. Once I got what I came here for."_

_And then, the battle had begun._

_They had traded blow after blow, orbing or shimmering from one place to another and Chris was getting desperate now. He had learned to fight those last few years but against this professional he was helpless. Nothing he did was getting her off his back._

_Suddenly he felt the world spinning and the next second he was being slammed into a wall hard. Dazed and with a blurred vision, he saw the witch approaching. Frantically, Chris tried to scramble back up to his feet again but his limbs didn't want to obey him and the next thing he knew, searing pain spread through his body like a firestorm._

_Panic rose like bile in his throat as he felt some part of him being forcibly ripped out and another part reacting in a way he had never experienced before. All of a sudden, rain came pouring down, the earth beneath them started to shake, his attacker was thrown off him by a strong gust of wind, landing in the middle of the street while fires blazed all around them._

_Somewhere in the back of his mind, Chris realized that this all was his doings, that somehow he had summoned the elements to his aid but he couldn't control it anymore than he could reign in his terror at that moment. Flames cracked and thunder roared and windows shattered and Chris clutched his head in utter confusion and profound horror._

_Only when the concrete under the woman started to crack did he get his emotions in check again. The wind that had assaulted her with pipes and stones and wood and what else it had picked up from the streets, died down as did the fires. The rain tapered off to a mere drizzle while the earth gave a last forceful shudder. The woman who was just attempting to rise, wincing in pain as she did so, looked up at him with wide stunned eyes as the surface gave way and she disappeared into the deep gaping cleft that suddenly crossed the whole length of the street._

_Without thinking Chris sprinted towards the rift, his arm outstretched, only just managing to get a grip on the young woman's arm before she would have disappeared into the depths of the earth. Not even noticing his own pain, he orbed them to one of the safe places he knew, despite the chaos in his head remebering not to bring her into the headquarters._

Chris wearliy ran his hand through his hair. Ever since the girls had saved him from that pocket-realm Gif had trapped him in, those dreams kept occuring. They weren't so much nightmares as painful memories of his past. He was 16 in that particular memory. And his attacker was Bianca. It was strange sometimes, the way life worked.

In a way, he was almost glad this incident with the demon had happened. It gave him something to hold onto, a vision of what could be, if he was successful with his mission. But he really could do without the dreams.

666

Dawn watched lazily, as her friends' Whitelighter made dinner for her, swaying lightly to the beat of the Eminem songs he liked to hear, her homework splayed neglected in front of her.

Willow had talked Chris into babysitting her, while she and Tara were off at the library studying for an oncoming exam. If studying was what they were doing...

Not that she minded though. Chris wasn't so bad to hang out with. He actually treated her like an equal. Dawn really liked Spike, hell she had had a crush on him for the longest time but sometimes, the bleach-blonde vampire was entirely too overprotective for her liking.

It had been three or so weeks since Chris had first shown up and still she hadn't found the nerve to ask him about that comment from Leo. As much as she liked to eavesdrop, she didn't like admitting to it. And she had a notion Chris wouldn't be too happy about her listening in on them.

Since that first night, there hadn't been three days in row that he didn't show up one way or another. More than once she had caught him sleeping in the living room, disappearing in the morning once he heard the girls waking up. Dawn was pretty sure neither Tara nor Willow knew about their nighttime-guest, but she believed they wouldn't mind either way.

Spike was another story though. He knew and obviously approved, since he hadn't kicked the Whitelighter out as of yet. She had caught them talking a few nights back when she wanted to get something to drink from the kitchen. And they had _both_ admonished her for being up so late when she had to go to school the next morning. And she had thought Buffy had been bad.

Of course, this lead her to a completely different trail of thoughts. Buffy. She hadn't thought of her older sister in a while now. That realization made her feel incredibly guilty. Buffy had given up everything to save her and that was the way she was thanking her for it? By forgetting her? She was working herself up into hysterics and she knew it. But she just...

"Penny for your thoughts!" Chris' quiet voice interrupted her mental reproach just in time.

Yet, Dawn couldn't make herself to look at him as she lied: "Nothing."

It wasn't that she didn't want to talk, she just didn't thought he would understand, what with him being an angel and all that.

"Don't lie to me, Dawn! I can tell something is bothering you," he calmly advised her. Chris didn't seem mad at all, he sounded genuinly interested.

"It's your sister, isn't it?" he asked quietly when she didn't speak.

Then again, Dawn thought, maybe he did understand.

"It's just... Don't get me wrong, but ever since you showed up, I didn't think of Buffy at all. I mean, what kind of sister does that make me? She gave her life for me, and I don't even take the time to remember her!" Even though she was agitated, it felt good to voice the thoughts that kept spinning in her mind. She wanted him to tell her that she was wrong and that made her feel even more guilty.

But Chris didn't speak right away. He took his time forming an answer while Dawn watched him with rapt attention.

"She wanted you to live, Dawn!" he finally told her. "That's why she risked so much, saving you. I didn't know your sister, but from what you all told me, I believe she wouldn't want you to waste your life mourning after her."

Dawn bristled angrily, but before she could yell at him, he continued: "I didn't say 'Don't mourn'. I'm just saying, that life goes on, and your sister wouldn't have wanted you to miss out on that. Visit her grave, cry over her death or whatever else you feel you must do, but don't stop living your life because of your pain. Believe me, it only makes things worse."

Something in his voice told her that there was more to those words than were obvious to her, but she felt too angry to care. What the hell did he know!

"You're an angel!" she reminded him accusingly. "What do you know about life's pains?"

His eyes suddenly turned cold and his whole posture closed up visibly; it sent a shiver down Dawn's spine.

"I had a life before all that, you know." His voice was dead, when he said those words, and at that moment Dawn wished she knew what had happened to him to make him so bitter. This sudden change in demeanor disturbed her.

Then he sighed and everything seemed to be back to normal, the soft look she liked so much returned to his eyes and he told her with a sad voice: "I know what it is like to lose someone you love, Dawn. At least you have the comfort of knowing that your sister loved you back."

He looked so tired, so full of grief right now that she couldn't hold up her anger any longer.

"Who did you lose?" the teen asked equally compassionate and curious. The young man seemed to be debating something, working his lower lip as he did so. "My brother," he finally admitted.

Dawn was taken aback. She hadn't known he had had a brother. Actually, she didn't know very much about the strange young man in front of her. "I'm sorry. When did he die?"

"He didn't." What? Then why did he say he lost him? Dawn wanted to ask, but Chris beat her to it. "I lost him to darkness not death!"

666

Neither of the two youths noticed the other presence in the large kitchen, concealed by shadows and his invisibility shield.

Leo had watched the interaction between the two with keen interest. Oddly enough the young man seemed more at ease here on the Hellmouth than in San Francisco with his family.

The older Whitelighter's distrust finally won out over his guilty conscience at spying after Chris in the last week, but so far the young Whitelighter from the future hadn't done anything particularly suspicious. Except for misusing the local magic shop for research – a lot of research.

However, although all evidence pointed to Chris telling the truth about his intentions, Leo couldn't help but feel that the boy was hiding something from them. Which was why he had been listening in on Chris trying to comfort Dawn. Actually he had done quite a nice job at it.

What concerned the Elder more was that he didn't know what to make of Chris' last statement. He felt its importance, but it didn't make any sense at this moment. Chris lost his brother to darkness? If only Leo could understand what the younger man was saying between the lines.

666

The room was murky and smoky and loud, three things Chris loathed with all his heart – which was one of the reasons he avoided the P3 even in his own timeline as much as possible – but, and that was the important part here, it was also up to the ceiling full with demons of all kinds.

He had left Dawn in Tara's care about half an hour ago, once the witches had returned from their studying. At least, Chris wanted to think that they had been studying all the five hours they had been gone, since everything else was really nothing he liked to indulge in too much; well, not unless it was night and he was safely in his bed where he couldn't embarrass himself in front of a teenage girl...

After going through a real mountain of books at the Magic Box, Anya's little occult shop, for the last three and a half weeks – and wasn't Sunnydale the only town, where a shop with actual magical items could be run undisguised without so much as a raised eyebrow! - he thought it time to pay the local underground a little visit.

He still had absolutely nothing to go on as to what demon turned Wyatt, and the sister weren't exactly helping with their quest for a normal life. God, had his family really been that egocentric? Leo being an Elder now didn't exactly help this development either and the young man knew that that part was his own fault. But his father becoming an Elder had been the essential ingredient for his plan to work at all.

So, he had to deal with the consequences and keep his mind focused on discovering the truth about his brother's state of insanity. Though, as more and more time passed without any sign towards something or someone in particular, Chris was growing impatient. He still had enough time, he knew that, but he had hoped that his mission would be over with in one or two months. That was one of the reasons why he originally banished Leo to Valhalla, to get him out of the picture for a short time. His stay there was never meant to last longer than those two months, as Mist had so kindly pointed out to him that fateful day.

The young witch really didn't like to remember the events, which had taken place after Leo's 'rescue'. To take a beating by his father had been bad enough. And what a beating that had been. The bruises on his back had lasted for a good week. But for Leo to challenge him with a goddamn _sword_ in his hand had been ten times worse. Damnit, Chris knew how to defend himself but facing the older Whitelighter, it was as if he had been paralyzed, only just avoiding the angry blows. Leo might have been a crappy father, but he still was his father. And until then, he had never laid a hand on him.

A rough shove to his shoulder and an angry: "Watch your step, boy!" shook him out of his depressing thoughts and brought him back to the task at hand. He really, really hoped Spike wouldn't be here to witness him undercover. The fiery vampire would take it the wrong way, and as much as Chris didn't want to admit it, he didn't want to lose his friendship.

Glaring back at the human-guised demon, he barked: "Keep to your own business!" It wouldn't do for him to show weakness. Only the strong survived here.

The tall burly demon wasn't ready to let it go just yet however. He gave an incredulous laugh and announced loudly: "So the whelp wants to play?" Suddenly, a long athame appeared in his outstretched hand. "Go, boy, before you get hurt!"

But Chris hadn't fought demons all his life to be intimidated this easily. Cocking his head to one side, he let his cold stare linger on the taller man. Without warning, he snapped his hand into a fist in front of his face, thus activating his own powers. Watching indifferently as the demon clutched at his neck, fighting for air for a few moments, he finally spoke. "Pardon me?" Oh, his brother would be _so_ proud of him...

"Anyone else wanna try me?" he asked for all to hear, still keeping his gaze on his struggling victim.

When everything stayed quiet, he released the only half conscious demon from the grasp of his powers and turned around to take a seat at one of the tables. Soon, the noise started up again as if nothing had ever happened.

Chris let out an unnoticable sigh of relief. His initiation was over. Now all he had to do was find someone who could give him the right kind of information.

666

The night was young, there was no demon to hunt, no vampire to slay, Dawn was out with a friend, and Tara and Willow had the house all to themselves for a while.

Indulging in a spontaneous movie-/cuddle-session, the two witches were sitting in front of the tv, watching a sappy Bollywood musical or romance or whatever they called them, while Tara was combing and braiding Willow's hair with intense care.

She was feeling at peace here, with her lover in her reach and the knowledge she had friends out there who would unconditionally watch her back. Even though it was dangerous company sometimes, meeting Willow and her friends had been the best thing that had ever happened to the blonde young witch. She had always been shy and never made much friends back in highschool, but Willow never seemed to mind. And although her relationship with the Slayer and the rest of the Scoobies had been awkward at first, it had all turned out better than she had ever hoped possible. She would be forever grateful to Spike for hitting her on her eighteenth birthday, showing her that there was absolutely no demon blood whatsoever running through her veins. Watching the pissed off vampire snap at her family and friends had been hilarious in hindsight.

Buffy's death had hurt her as much as the others, but she also accepted and respected the choice she had made not only as the Slayer but also as a sister. Buffy had wanted her baby-sister to live, even though she knew that Dawn was not so much her sister as a being, created with her very own essence that didn't even exist until a few months ago. They had never told Dawn though. The girl still believed she was Buffy's sister and had a lifetime of memories to prove her point.

Which was exactly why Tara had been so concerned about her after Buffy's death. The blonde girl never quite knew how to approach the subject and Dawn hadn't come to her or anyone else on her own. But apparently, Chris had gotten through to her somehow this afternoon. After her Whitelighter had been gone, the teenager had asked her, if she would accompany her to the graveyard as long as the sun was still up.

They had talked. And although Dawn was still hurting, Tara was confident that she was going to get over her sister's death alright.

"You know," Willow's low voice startled her out of her revery. "I saw that movie once with Xander and Buffy."

Tara quietly listened, sensing that her lover didn't really expect a reply. "Xander complained about the singing and Buffy asked: 'So – how does the water buffalo fit in?' "

The redhead chuckled softly in remembrance of those days. "It's strange I can remember those little things, when I can't even remember which day it was. I miss her Tara." Her whole posture gave away her sorrow, shoulders hunched, knees drawn to her chest and her head propped up by the couch in her back.

"I know, sweety," Tara tried to soothe her, stroking her hair gently all the while. "I miss her, too."

Suddenly, Willow turned around to face her friend. "Do you think we could bring her back?"

"Bring her back?" Tara was taken aback. "What do you mean?" Please, please not what she thought she did...

"With magic. Bring her back to life. Xander did it before!" Willow looked up with so much desperation and hope in her eyes, that Tara's heart clenched painfully.

"But Sweety; Xander didn't use magic. And she had been dead only for a few moments then." She really didn't want to crush Willow's hopes, but she also knew she had to.

"But, but..." her friend was fishing for arguments, anything to have a reason to bring Buffy back. It broke Tara's heart watching this. Perhaps, Dawn wasn't the one she should have been so concerned about.

"What if she's in some kind of hell dimension, like Angel had been. Buffy doesn't deserve that!"

"Why would you think such a thing?" Tara tried to reason. "Angel had to suffer for his crimes. What crime has Buffy done? And what do you think Chris would say to such a plan?" She knew she was restoring to unfair measures, but she didn't know what else to do.

"But he doesn't have to know, does he?"

Oh god, someone please help, Tara thought helplessly.

666

She knew she shouldn't have gone back home all by herself after dark. She had been living on the Hellmouth long enough to know that. And yet, she had done it, trying to prove to the Scoobies that she was able to take care of herself. She really should have known better! Even Buffy hadn't liked to go patroling alone.

Dawn was running for her life from some vampires or just plain old human bullies. She didn't actually know but she didn't care either. All she cared about was reaching safety before they could get her.

Looking back over her shoulder, she saw in panic that they were coming closer. She stumbled, frantically searching for a place for her to hide in before she turned into an alley, realizing only a second too late that she had run into a dead end.

Heaving with exhaustion, she turned on her heels only to see them closing in on her like a pack of predators. Vampires then. Humans didn't act like that, they lacked the certain grace those children of the night could call their own. Not that that made her feel any better as she backed away from them.

Dawn's heart beat in her throat and she couldn't make her voice working.

"What is a pretty young lady like you doing in this part of town?" One of them asked her with a mocking smile on his face before he changed in his game-face, growling in bloodlust. The shock shook the teen out of her muteness however and she began screaming for help.

"Help! Please somebody, help!" God, if only Spike was somewhere around here. He would hear her for certain. Or maybe Chris. He did say, he would hear her if she called for him.

"Chris! Please Chris!" She screamed and screamed, while the vampires' cruel laughter filled the dark alley.

Suddenly one of them, the one who had been talking, jumped and the girl already thought that was it, this was how she was going to die, when unexpectedly the undead was thrown in the opposite direction mid-jump.

"You get the hell away from her!" A cold voice demanded and then, Dawn saw Chris standing in front of her, brunette hair spiky, clad in dark clothes, looking every inch a pissed off fallen angel.

"Who _are_ you?" The vampires seemed more confused than scared, but Chris remained his cold confident self. "No one you want to know!"

He touched Dawn at the elbow, ready to orb them away.

"Really." One of them snarled, while Dawn saw another one stalking up on Chris sideways.

"Watch out!" she yelled, backing away again in fright just when the vampire attacked. But the Whitelighter easily blocked his attacker, trading a hard blow to his stomach in return, which caused the fanged demon to reel back with the force of it.

And then, the battle began in earnest.

The young man went through the vampires almost like the Slayer herself, blocking and trading kicks and punches so fast Dawn could hardly follow. But they still had the advantage, about a dozen of them going against one. Chris was perhaps skilled enough to fight them but nevertheless he lacked a Slayer's strength and endurance.

And he had no stake at hand, the girl realized with a start. Fumbling through her own pockets, she triumphantly brought out one of the stakes Xander had placed into her clothes for safety.

"Chris!" Dawn called out to him and he shortly looked up at her from the demons who currently had him under attack. But just as she wanted to throw him the sharp piece of wood he had to duck another blow at his head and the stake landed somewhere in the middle of the jumble of bodies.

When Dawn later thought back to the moments that followed, everything that had happened after she had thrown the stake was a huge blur of images in her mind, so fast things had come about. A vampire who was about to attack Chris from behind suddenly turned to dust. The familiar dark graceful form of Spike appeared next to the young man, backing him up. The Whitelighter lifted his hand and a few feet away, another vampire combusted, Dawn's stake in his chest. And a few moments later it was all over, the remaining vampires either fleeing or killed as well.

Leaving the two men stand in the middle of the alley, back to back, still in fighting stance.

Dawn moved first after a few seconds of tensed silence.

"Are you guys okay?" She asked worried, while already walking over to them.

"Yeah," Chris replied, relaxing slightly and turning around to survey his unexpected helper. "Thanks man!"

The vampire just looked at him for a moment then shook his head, clearly amused.

"What?" The Whitelighter now wore a slightly irritated expression, Dawn noted interested.

"Never mind that I always thought you folk were meant to be _pacifists_," Spike began, a smirk tugging at his lips. "Why didn't you just orb!"

"Uhh..." Now, that was something new, the girl decided. Chris had never looked sheepish before.

"Adrenalin rush?" The young man asked with an obvious squeak in his voice. Spike and her couldn't help but burst out laughing at his expression of utter chagrin.

They walked home together after that, each one enjoying the friendly banter that filled the silence of a regular Sunnydale night.

666

_"No, no, no!" Bianca exploded exasperated, watching Chris get up from where she had thrown him onto the floor._

_"You have to become faster!" she lectured him impatiently, repeating what she said a hunderd times before. "You don't have the advantage of weight or physical strength, so you have to become faster!"_

_"I know!" He snapped angrily. "I'm trying!"_

_"Don't try it, do it!" The woman tied her hair up anew and took a fighting stance once more. "Again!"_

_Chris sighed tiredly and copied her, trying to guess what move to expect next._

_It had hardly been half a year since he had met the Phoenix assassin. And to be honest, he didn't really know why he had saved her that very first day when she wanted to bring him back to his brother. Or why she now helped him, going against Wyatt behind his back. And what he really didn't understand was why he trusted her despite all that. His empathy told him he was right about her though, so the boy took the chance and let her train him every time he could._

_Bianca knew about the hideouts and strongholds where the refugees of Wyatt's regime sought shelter, but she never asked about their location or the people living there. For that Chris was grateful. The less she knew, the safer all of them would be, including Bianca herself._

_He had already gotten better at what she was teaching him and sadly he had opportunity enough to test her tricks in real life. But if they wanted to survive in this world no one had a choice but learn how to fight._

_And besides, he really liked having her around..._

666

Spike didn't want to believe his eyes when he saw Chris sitting there in Willy's bar, talking jovially with a warlock or Darklighter or whatever that man was. Had he been so wrong about the boy?

'Just when I thought I had figured him out...' the vampire thought somewhat frustrated as he continued to watch the girl's Whitelighter from his place in the shadows.

Then again, there had always been some things that didn't add up about the boy. Like the way he fought two nights ago. Him sleeping at his charge's instead of – whereever it was Whitelighters usually stayed. Or that he didn't want to get two new charges asigned in the first place. His whole attitude was not that of a Whitlelighter.

Spike interrupted his musings about the strange young man in favour of listening in on his current conversation.

"You're no warlock!" The apparent Darklighter spat contemptfully. "You have Whitelighter powers and no one can consume a Whitelighter's power, not even us."

But Chris wasn't easily intimidated, Spike already knew that.

"No you can't." He agreed readily enough. "But you can be born with them! Only because my father was a Whitelighter doesn't mean I am, too! Hell, it doesn't even mean I'm good!"

The vampire wasn't too sure what to think anymore. If this was all an act – and he was suprised himself that he wanted it to be some kind of act – Chris was playing his part awfully well.

"Oh, but it does mean you're still vulnerable to my arrows!" The tall Darklighter wasted no time standing up, eyes cold and threatening, conjuring his crossbow and aiming at the lanky Whitelighter, who sat across from him at the table.

Before the arrow was even released completely, Chris had orbed out of the way, materialized again next to his attacker and had a long athame at the man's throat so fast even the vampire could hardly follow.

Well, at least the boy had style, he had to give him that. Chris looked downright intimidating with that cold calculating expression and despite his rather frail appearance, Spike once again had proof that he wouldn't want to mess with him.

The question now was what to do. He couldn't just go over there now, seeing as Spike had absolutely no idea how the boy was going to react. Chris was unpredictable and the vampire actually liked that about him. It made things more interesting. Heaven knew he could do with a little bit of excitement from time to time.

But once again, the vampire was interrupted in his wonderings.

Red's girlfriend had chosen this exact moment to enter the demon bar.

Had everybody's attention been on the two opponents before, it was now on the shy and vastly misplaced young witch standing just inside the door. What little noise there had been stopped completely at her appearance.

What the hell does she think she's doing?

Unbeknownst to the bleach blonde undead the exact same thought went through another head as well.

"Well now," the Darklighter spoke up, catching everyone's attention again. "The perfect opportunity for you to prove your point!" Despite the sharp dagger still at his throat, the Darklighter smirked confidently down at Chris.

Chris didn't even blink, only raised his eyebrows questioningly. Either he had to compliment the boy for his composure, or Spike would have to think of a way to get rid of him and the girl out of here soon.

"If a good witch doesn't mean anything to you," the stranger explained, "then you won't mind me doing this." And with that he raised his crossbow once again, now aiming at the blonde witch, closely watching the boys reaction.

Chris let out a slightly incredulous laugh, never loosing his cool. Lowering the athame, he replied frighteningly indifferent: "The witch is not my problem!"

Now Spike was truly taken aback. Did the boy really mean that? Out of the corner of his eye he saw Tara standing paralyzed at the door, with a hint of betrayal showing on her face.

But Chris wasn't done yet. Athame suddenly gone, he raised an empty hand as if to run it through his hair.

"Neither is she yours."

He clenched his fingers curtly. Spike had no idea what that gesture was supposed to mean until he heard the crossbow clatter heavily to the ground and saw the Darklighter scratching his own neck in desperate need for air.

"I'm your problem!" Chris' cold voice cut through the tensed silence, eyes blazing green fire.

The vampire couldn't help but watch in fascination. The boy was now as far from the slightly neurotic but nevertheless amiable young Whitelighter as Spike could have ever imagined.

"Get her out of here, Spike!"

When he first heard Chris' voice speak again, he only was startled that the boy actually knew he was there. Then something clicked in his head and he realized two things at once. First, why would Chris risk losing his cover by speaking so loud the whole room could hear it? And second, Spike had been looking at Chris this whole time but his lips had never moved...

"Get her out, Spike!" He heard the boy speak again in his head only, more urgently this time. "I'll meet you at the house."

You bet you do, an irritated vampire thought, hoping this mojo worked both ways. You have some serious explaining to do, once I get a hold of you!

666

When Chris finally orbed into the kitchen, he didn't even have time to estimate the trouble he was in because he immediately had a seriously pissed off vampire at his throat. Literally. He didn't even see Spike move.

"What the hell did you think you were doing!" Spike roared, game-face to the fore, tightening his grip on Chris' neck while holding him at arm's length.

Well, he was in deep shit now, Chris mused curiously detached. It was better to be indifferent than let the mistrust of yet another person he cared about affect him too much.

"Will you let me explain first?" He guessed he owed them an explanation of some sorts, although he was not too sure if he was allowed to give one.

The anxious young witch needn't have worried though since the vampire calmed down quickly enough, his face turning human again and letting go of the other's neck.

"Explain then."

Huh. Easier said than done. Chris didn't even know where to begin, let alone how much to tell them. Desperately trying to hold his act together, he bought himself some time by sitting down on one of the chairs, exhaling slowly to cover up the turmoil in his mind.

Just when he had composed himself enough to begin, someone blurted out: "You're from the future, aren't you?"

Dawn. He hadn't even seen her standing with them in the kitchen. And then suddenly, it dawned on him exactly what it was she had been saying.

"What!" Was that really his voice? It had sounded too shrill. Chris didn't like to admit it, but the girl had caught him utterly off guard. How the hell did she know?

"Who told you!"

Now it was the teenager who looked decidedly uneasy, never meeting his gaze when she replied. "I, I... kind of heard Leo say that when you two were talking."

Leo? When had he ever said something like that in front of anyone from here? Well, it was a logical possibility, even if he didn't know when it had happened. Damn.

"It's true then?" Another voice he hadn't expected here. Willow peeked her red head through the doorway, looking a bit confused and uncertain from one face to the other. Oh well. She was one of his charges and seeing as he almost endangered her girlfriend's life, Chris guessed she had a right to know as well.

Nodding his head in defeat, he simply admitted: "Yeah."

"Why did you come here?" Dawn sounded both curious and scared as she asked this question.

Chris really didn't want to discuss his reasons, but he didn't want to lie to them either. "I can't tell you." That was about as much of the truth as he was willing to give.

But Spike had other ideas. "It's got to do with your other charges, doesn't it? After all, you told us they were your first priority."

When Chris only watched him with a defiant glare in his eyes, the vampire continued as if Chris' silence just affirmed his suspicions. Which it propably did.

"And you're no full Whitelighter either," he continued, almost annoyingly selfconfident. "You're a nephalim. Part witch, part angel, am I right?"

Eventually, Chris nodded wearliy. What good would it do to deny that. Tara and Spike had already seen too much.

"Well?" Spike pried impatiently after a few moments. "Why did you come here? And why have you been in a demon bar, talking to a Darklighter of all people?"

God, this couldn't be happening! Chris wanted nothing more than to orb out of here right now, getting out of the position they had him cornered in. But he knew, he couldn't flee the confrontation, not this time.

"I can't, Spike!" The boy hated how pleading his voice sounded. He felt like dying.

But once again, Dawn took matters in her own hands. "It's because of your brother, isn't it?" She asked softly. "You came back to save your brother."

No, no, no, that wasn't supposed to happen! Why couldn't they just be as oblivious as his family? The small voice in his head uttered a very different opinion. _Why couldn't his family be as perceptive as those two?_

"I knew I shouldn't have told you that," he declared tiredly after long last.

Chris told them more about himself that evening than he had told the sisters the past three month. He told them about Wyatt destroying the world as they knew it; about how the resistance had tried to stop him, voting Chris himself for their leader; about learning to fight in order to survive. About his own powerlessness when it came to fighting against his own brother, the one he had believed in unconditionally all those years ago. About going back to the past to find out and prevent what had happened to him.

And although he knew how dangerous this knowledge could be for them, for him and for everyone else; once he had started he couldn't stop anymore, it all came pouring out of him. There were still some things Chris didn't tell them; Bianca and Lily for one and some other stuff that was too personal. But it felt good to talk, to have them listen to him without the threat of instant judgement hanging in the air.

666

Silently standing beside Tara and listening to Chris's story, Willow wondered what had triggered this astounding confession. All she wanted to do was find Tara to convince her of Willow's plan when she had heard the voices in the kitchen.

And although all this would have fascinated her any other time, all the redhead cared about at the moment was getting Buffy back to life. She didn't understand how Tara and Spike and even Dawn could let her go just like that. Like she never meant anything to them. She died to safe them all, closing a portal to hell and was now propably suffering in an unknown hell dimension, only waiting to be saved by her friends. Didn't they understand that?

Well, at least she had Xander and Anya on her side, she had talked to them this afternoon.

Wait, a sudden thought formed in her head. If Chris had gone to that length, going back in time to change the future and bring his brother back, maybe he would help her resurrect her friend. They had the same motivation after all; if anyone understood why she wanted this so badly, it would have to be the witch-Whitelighter from the future!

A good few heartbeats of silence followed Chris' explanation, before he himself spoke again. Looking questioningly at Tara, he asked confused: "Why have you been in that demon bar in the first place, Tara? You should know how dangerous it is."

Tara had been at Willy's? Jerking her head around to her girlfriend, Willow saw her blonde friend cringe in discomfort when everyone's attention was suddenly focused on her.

"I, I, I..." Tara stuttered and casted Willow an uncertain glance, guilty conscience clearly written on her face.

"Tara?" The witch questioned, not knowing whether she wanted to hear the answer.

"I wanted to get Spike to talk to Willow," the shy witch finally answered in a small voice, nervously wringing her hands, and then hesitantly but with quiet determination meeting Willow's eyes at last.

The redhead felt like someone had just drenched her with cold water. Tara didn't mean this, did she? She only wanted her friend back, was that so bad? The last thing she needed was the magic-hating vampire to know about her plan!

"Tara, no..." Willow moaned desperately, the feeling of betrayal already growing stronger, but her lover only cast her an apologetic glance before she went on with her explanation.

"Willow wants to bring Buffy back to life!"

As expected, the protest followed immediately.

"What!"

"Have you gone bonkers?"

However, there were only two loud voices. Chris' was softer when he told her: "You can't do that."

Except that his soft tone made her angrier than the other's disbelieving surprise ever could. Who was he to tell her she wasn't allowed to save her best friend, when his own doings were even more drasticthan that! And she told him so.

"How dare you!" Willow burst out furiously, discarding the startled looks on her friends' faces.

"How dare you tell me I cannot save my friend when you yourself went back in time to get your own brother back!"

The almost compassionate expression on her Whitelighter's face vanished at once as if wiped off, leaving behind a cold hardened mask.

"You didn't listen to a word I said, did you?" He asked surprisingly calm. "Because, as much as I do want my family back, I didn't come here for my own comfort! I came here to prevent my brother turning evil _not_ to get back the man he used to be, but to save our world from becoming his own evil little playground. So yes, I did come here to save my brother; but if I can't save him, I will stop him!"

Willow stared at him, not knowing what to say. He just sounded so scarily impassionate, telling them that he was ready to kill his own brother if he had to. She honestly had no desire to experience a world that could do this to the young halfbreed. Making him a soldier.

And yet she couldn't let her friend go either. How did they know, Buffy wasn't suffering because of them?

"But we have to save her!" The redhead insisted, her voice quivering and scratchy because she was doing such a lousy job at fighting back her tears.

Chris sighed wearily once again, reverting to the caring Whitelighter she knew.

"Why do you think you have to save her?" He asked quietly.

Willow felt her mouth working without a sound coming out. She wanted to tell him what she had told Tara before, that Buffy was stuck in a hell dimension because she closed the portal. But she had a feeling that he wouldn't go for that.

Before she was able to get a word out of her mouth, Chris said something that made her heart beat faster.

"Listen, if you want to see your friend so bad, there might be another way to bring her back. You're a witch. You can summon her spirit. See for yourself if she needs to be saved or not!"

Willow stared at him for a long while. This idea has never occured to her. And maybe because she didn't want it to, the witch acknowledged now to herself. She wanted Buffy back in person not as some kind of ghost. But that wouldn't be fair to so many people, so in the end Willow nodded her head in affirmation.

Tbc

A/N: Did I say, this is an AU? Buffy wasn't brought back in Chris' future and I don't plan to either.

Originally I planned to not place answers to your reviews anywhere in here, but as some of you didn't leave your email-addresses (_mock-glare_) and I don't want to not answer:

phoeeebs: Thank you! I hope you I live up to your expectations.

Phoebe Turner: And again Thank you! Hope I can top that, although I don't think so.

Lonnie: Yeah, poor Chris. He's in for so much more. evil laugh

And thanks again to you others, but you already got a reply XP

As you might have guessed, I try to update once a week, but I think the next chapter will either be a very short one or it will take me a bit longer to post, because I really have to learn for my exams in medicine, maths and electronics. Odd combination, I know, but I study computer science with special weight on uses in medicine. Wish me luck.

Todays intro was taken out of 'Nemo' by Nightwish for anyone who wants to know.

Read and review, pwetty please?


	4. It's getting frustrating!

Title: A Whitelighter's Priority 

Author: rachelAbendstern

Summary: Chris whines... :)

Spoilers: Season 6 Charmed; I forgot to mention BtVS last chapter, 'The Gift'

Disclaimer: Neither Buffy nor Charmed is mine, and I don't make any money with it. Lily though belongs to me XP

4. It's getting frustrating!

_Wherever you go, I'm going with you_

_Shouldn't you know I'm bound to follow_

_Whatever you say, whatever you do_

_I give you a clue, I'm gonna follow_

As Chris orbed in that night, it was to see Spike add cornflakes to his mug of blood. The vampire caught him staring and, smirking, mock-cheered him with his cup before taking a deep swallow, crunching the flakes deliberately loud.

The witch raised one eyebrow then, shaking his head ruefully, stated: „Why don't I pretend I didn't just see that?"

„You sound like the Whelp!" Spike snorted amused. „At least now I know why you take it so easy having a demon around. You being a Whitelighter and all that, I would have imagined you'd be a pain in my ass."

"Yeah, well," Chris replied, still not quite comfortable with the idea that the Hellmouth gang knew about his secrets.

"How are they doing, anyway?" Changing the subject was always a good course...

And he was indeed concerned if there had been any more desperate ideas running through his charge's head or if her friends were trying to convince her to do anything stupid. After all, the Slayer's death had been harsh on all of them. Then again, at least Spike and Tara would have been sensible enough to call him if there had been any other incidents while he had been away.

"Coping I think. About time as well. You did a nice job, suggesting to summon her spirit." Spike wore a curious expression, somewhere between relief and distress.

"You loved her, didn't you?" the witch realized with a start.

"I'm a demon, I'm not able to feel love!" Spike was quick to reply, but even without knowing about his aunt Phoebe and her demonic lover Cole, Chris wouldn't have bought it.

"Yeah, right!"

However, the vampire had no intention on going down that road. Pretending not to have heard Chris, he asked a question of his own instead.

"What about you, witch boy? Have you found anything interesting concerning your future evil sibling?"

"Nooo..." Deciding to drop the subject and answer Spike's question, the brunette youth slumped down on one of the chairs on the opposite side letting his head rest on top of the counter.

He was in the mood to indulge in some whining right now and since he couldn't exactly go to the sisters, Spike would have to bear with him.

"I was in the Underworld and some other demonic gathering points I know of for almost three _frigging_ weeks and I _still_ don't have any lead on who turned Wyatt! It's getting really frustrating, let me tell you that!"

"I imagine. All I picked up on was some rumour that a powerful demon wanted to escape the fires of hell, but as of now, he didn't succeed." Chris could still hear the vampire crunching on his blood-dripping flakes in between sentences. Yuck.

"Barbas," he sighed in agitation, ineffectively trying to block out the irritating noise. "Yeah, I heard that as well. And maybe I ought to keep an eye on that. If he really does get out he could get to be a problem again, but I just don't understand what he would want with Wyatt."

He sat up again, raking his hands through his already tousled hair. "And to make things worse, Leo is stalking me every chance he gets after he caught me with a potions master."

Suddenly angry, he slammed his hands down on the counter. "Stupid Elders!"

"Whoa!" Spike easily caught the glass that suddenly went flying at the witch's outbreak. "Chill, boy!"

A not quite convincing mumbled "Sorry" left Chris' lips as he once again slumped down on the counter. For all that Chris always said he couldn't care less about his father, Leo was the only one able to make his blood boil like that, loathe as he was to admit it.

"Elders in general or Leo in particular?" The vampire asked,curious as to what had caused this little display.

"Elders in general and Leo in particular," the boy replied wryly.

"The Elders were never really fond of Wyatt and me, I guess," he elaborated at Spike's questioning gaze. "After the Titans, they were afraid of too much power in a few hands and although I'm not as powerful as Wyatt, I'm still the son of a Charmed One and an Elder and they let me feel their revulsion."

Chris was getting agitated again, remembering the horrible way the Elders in his time had treated them. When his brother had killed the ones who had had survived the Titans' attack, Chris was actually more upset about his sibling giving in to the desire to kill than the fact that the Elders had been murdered itsself.

But before his powers could leash out again, Spike interrupted his thoughts.

"Have you ever taken into consideration then that it might not have been a demon who turned your brother?" He asked, calmly leaning back against the fridge and crossing his arms over his chest.

Chris looked up at him, considering the idea. "You mean the Elders? Why would they want to tip the balance towards evil? They were afraid enough of him when he was good!"

"Maybe accidentally?"

"Maybe," the young man conceded. "I'll keep it in mind. After those three weeks I'll accept almost any theory! - God!"

Putting his hands over his face, he complained: "You have no idea what it feels like to be someone I am not around them." Chris himself didn't quite know if he meant the sisters, the Elders or the demons.

"I don't?" Something in Spike's tone made him look up again.

He was taken a bit by surprise when he saw the vampire's demon face staring back at him.

"Okay, so maybe you do!" The boy acknowledged with a hint of embarrassment. "But you know I don't care what your face looks like. And I bet you anything that at least Dawn doesn't either."

The blonde vampire smirked, one last time showing off his canines before reverting to his human face.

"Wouldn't want the nibblet to get any ideas, now would we?"

"Oh, don't worry," Chris replied in amusement, "she'll get those all by herself!"

Spike pulled a face at that statement but then changed the subject once more.

"Listen, can you stay in with Dawn tonight? The brats are already hunting and someone has to watch their backs."

"I'm no babysitter, Spike!" Chris objected exasperated.

"Besides, don't you think the girl's old enough to survive one night on her own in her own house. It's not like she's thick enough to invite a stranger in."

"I'm not taking any chances!" Spike snapped harsher than he intended.

Taking an unneeded deep breath, he continued more calmly: "You're only studying your books again anyway, you can do that just as well in here."

Without waiting for his friend's reply the vampire took off, calling a casual "Thanks" over his shoulder before shutting the door from the outside.

Chris just stood there, gaping after the tall blonde openmouthed before shaking his head in resigned annoyance.

"You can come out now." He called to the girl he knew was standing just outside the kitchen in the hallway.

Dawn perked her head in, smiling an impish smile with just a touch of guilty conscience. Chris could easily imagine her being exactly the little troublemaker Lily was when she was his daughter's age.

"Thanks for trying!" She said, coming the whole way in when she realized Chris wasn't mad at her for eavesdropping.

The older youth only grimaced.

"How 'bout dinner? I'm starving!"

666

They were sitting in the living room, the table packed with ancient tomes and volumes about witchcraft and demons, pieces of paper with notes in Chris' neat small handwriting or Dawn's broad elegant letters scattered all over. It was a small wonder in the girl's opinion that the table had yet to break under the weight of it all.

Laying on the floor on her stomach, leafing through yet another heavy book, Dawn thought this whole research-thing would be way easier if they knew what they were actually looking for. The Whitelighter beside her had only instructed her to put down any demons that seemed worth looking into. That didn't really narrowed it down.

Instead of being bored though, the teen found this quite interesting. She had never known just how many magical and mystical creatures existed. And not only demons for that matter...

"Damn..." she heard Chris mutter next to her.

"Yeah," Dawn agreed whole-heartedly, assuming he was as frustrated as she was at not finding anything of importance. "This would be a whole lot easier if we knew what we were looking for."

To her surprise, the young man let out a small laugh. "No, I didn't mean that," he clarified. "Phoebe is calling me. And the gang won't be back for another hour."

"So?" The girl asked, seizing the opportunity to gain a bit more freedom like any other teenager her age. "I can manage on my own for a while."

Again Chris laughed, although Dawn couldn't tell if he was indeed amused or if it was another bout of the Whitelighter's habitual sarcasm.

"I know you can." He looked at her with shining eyes. So it was both amusement and sarcasm, the teen concluded. Sure enough Chris' next words confirmed her observation. "But Spike would gladly skin me alive if I left you alone for ten minutes."

Dawn however was quick to object. "He wouldn't. Even if he could." After all, the vampire and the Whitelighter had gotten rather close these last few months.

"Oh, he could!" At her disbelieving stare the halfbreed patiently explained his statement. "I'm not quite human, you know. My father was – _is_ – a full Whitelighter, which means technically he's dead."

"And that makes you what? Half-dead?" Honestly amused this time, Chris laughed at her confused question.

"It makes me just enough not-quite-human for Spike to be able to fight with me."

An irritated look passed over his face that Dawn wasn't able to explain until she heard him shout exasperatedly with his head turned towards the ceiling: "I'm coming, damnit!"

A sudden mirth lighting up his eyes, he looked back at Dawn. "Fancy a trip to San Francisco?"

tbc

A/N: Told you it would be shorter this time. A lot of talking and not much action here, sorry. But I guess you can imagine what happens next time... Dawn meets the Charmed Ones. (And Spike, too ;) )

Wish me luck for my exams this week ;;

Intro's from 'Stars' by Roxette by the way.

Oh, yeah, mustn't forget the reviewers:

Lonnie: Thanks :)

Leigh1986: Wow, I feel honored. Hope you still like it when I'm done ;)

Phoebe Turner: Well thanks. I'll try

YoshimiWolfspaw: What can I say? Thanks! I couldn't help myself. And I know, the show wouldn't have gone on without Buff, but honestly how thick can you get, to bring back the dead?

phoeeebs: I updated XP . I'll try to once a week. Thank you.

LoganBlackisle: Wow! There are male authors around? ;) No offence. Anyway, thanks for the praise! I totally agree with you about Buff.

So, I think I'll keep doing that, answering the reviews by e-mail if I can (LoganBlackisle: You are an exception here because I only just saw your review) and the rest at the chapter's end.

See ya all next week, I hope :)


	5. Encounters of the Strange Kind

Title: A Whitelighter's Priority 

Author: rachelAbendstern

Summary: Dawn meets Phoebe

Spoilers: Season 6 Charmed; I forgot to mention BtVS last chapter, 'The Gift'

Disclaimer: Neither Buffy nor Charmed is mine, and I don't make any money with it. Lily though belongs to me XP

5. Encounters of the... Strange Kind

_Schlägt Gefahr aus der Dunkelheit,_

_Bin ich zum ersten Schlag bereit._

_Ich bin der erste, der dich befreit,_

_Und einer der letzten, der um dich weint._

Phoebe Halliwell was pacing to and fro in the hallway of the manor, impatiently waiting for her overdue Whitelighter.

The last three weeks had been incredibly strange and annoying for the witch and her sisters. Not only because their precious new Whitelighter found it unnecessary to appear when they called for him – oh, he did appear after a while and if they were really lucky he even managed to come in less than ten minutes – but her brother-in-law re-discovered his distrust to his junior angel and had begun to chase after him whereever Chris went.

It was quite frustrating to say the least for all sides involved, especially since the only thing Leo had managed so far was to catch Chris in the company of a demonic potions master. At least that episode had had its advantages. Apparently, their young Whitelighter had ordered some kind of empathy blocking potion which Leo begrudgingly distributed to Phoebe's sisters as soon as they got wind of it.

In all honesty, Phoebe didn't even care if Chris might had ordered the potion for his own use in the first place. Whatever secret he was keeping, they would find out eventually without her new gift. But if she had been able to read her siblings' emotions one more day, someone would certainly have been killed – and most likely it would have been her...

She simply wasn't _made_ for keeping secrets and she couldn't just get _not_ involved if she felt something was wrong.

As for today, actually she just needed a babysitter.

A few weeks ago she would never have even considered Chris as a possible babysitter for Wyatt, but – although she still had her doubts – she trusted her nephew's instinct and Wyatt hadn't had his shield up around Chris for some time now.

And since Piper and Paige were at the P3, Leo was currently unavailable for whatever reason he had to put his job once again before his family and Jason had phoned just a couple of minutes ago he was going to take her on another of his suprise trips, that left Wyatt without babysitter for the rest of the night. She dearly loved Jason but sometimes she wished he would tell her when he had planned something like this a bit more in advance.

"CHRIS!" She yelled in irritation one more time. If he didn't orb his skinny ass in there soon, Jason might catch him in the act so to speak. And they really didn't need that kind of attention.

She was just about ready to curse him into next week – literally – when she heard the familiar sound of orbs behind her.

"I'm here!" Chris' exasperated voice sounded even before he had fully materialized.

Turning around she caught sight not only of her rogue Whitelighter but also of a small teenage girl who stood partly behind Chris.

"Uh..." Phoebe pointed her fingers surprised at the girl who curiously raised her eyebrows in return. "Who's that?"

"Huh?" The young man who had looked at his charge expectantly turned around to where the woman was pointing. "Oh. That's Dawn. Dawn, Phoebe Halliwell; Phoebe, Dawn Summers."

The witch smiled uneasily at this introduction. Chris wasn't seriously taking a stranger to the manor, was he? Or perhaps... no, no way.

"Don't you think, she's a little young, Chris?" She stage-whispered through her strained smile, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"What?" Alternately looking at Dawn and Phoebe the Charmed One saw realization dawning on him. That reaction alone dissipated any ideas she had had about their relationship, but it still didn't explain exactly why Chris had brought her along.

"No!" The young man vehemently objected as her implications hit him. "God no! No offence Dawn."

The girl behind him snickered and stepped forward. "Non taken," she assured him amusedly. "His charges live with me in my sister's house." She explained to Phoebe while sticking her hand out for the witch to shake. "And since they are off having fun slaying, Chris was stuck with me."

Just then, the bell chimed and they could see the outline of a huge man standing outside through the colourful glass of the frontdoor.

"Oh, that's great," Phoebe waved her hands distractedly, her thoughts already with Jason as she was on her way to the door. "Then you can look after Wyatt, too. Baby food's in the kitchen, diapers in the nursery, baby asleep right now. Thanks."

"Whoa!" Chris stopped her from further advancing to the door after she already slipped on her jacket, his face contorted in an expression of obvious horror. "No, no, no. No way I'll babysit Wyatt!"

"Well, you babysit _her_!" The empath vigorously motioned to Dawn who looked on, rather enjoying herself.

"Yeah, that's because I have a crazy overprotective vampire on my tail if I don't!" Vampire! As soon as Phoebe was back, they'd really have to have a word with their young Whitelighter on his choice of friends!

She heard a light smack and looked back to see the teen draw her hand away from Chris' head, scolding him good naturedly. "Spike's not crazy!"

That statement however only earned her a glare from the boy and confusion on the witch's part.

Again, the bell rang so Phoebe decided to leave all issues for future dealing and finally opened the door.

"Hi, Jason!" She threw her love an unresistably sweet smile which quickly made the man focus his attention on her instead of the bewildering scene in front of him.

"We'll talk about this later!" The Charmed One promised darkly before linking her arm with Jason's and closing the door from behind, intend on enjoying herself, wherever it was they were headed to.

666

With noise of the lock snapping shut still ringing in the silence Chris threw his hands in the air in a mixture of anger, exasperation and disbelief.

"What _is_ it with people today?" He asked no one in particular. "Why do I always get stuck babysitting? And where the hell is Leo!"

He was officially pissed now. And Dawn's gleeful snickering next to him didn't exactly help him calm down, either.

666

It was well past midnight when Spike barged his way into the Summers' house, still riled up from the fights of the night, yelling for the two he had left behind a few hours ago.

If a vampire could be giddy with joy then Spike was the happiest person alive... well undead, as a matter of fact, in this moment. But they couldn't. So, no, he _wasn't_ almost bouncing on his feet with pent up energy. This house might have done a number on him already, but he hadn't sunken that deep – yet.

The kids had decided on a late night visit of the Bronze after they were done figthing for the night and since the vampire honestly didn't need to watch the two couples snogging their way into oblivion, he had opted for fetching the nibblet and future-boy and get them to play a few games of pool with him. It was the weekend after all and none of them had to get up early tomorrow.

His high spirits however sank when he realized that nobody was at home. Even with his vampire senses he couldn't pick up anything moving or breathing and although the lingering smell of all six youths permeated the air, it was at best one hour old. Looking into the living room he saw a mountain of books piling on the table with scraps of paper scattered around. Although he had no doubt that the boy watched out for the little bit, it didn't look like there had been a fight going on. So what the hell had happened?

Where were the two of them?

666

Loud and pitiful wailing disrupted the peace of the night and Dawn winced sympathatically for Chris, who currently held the source of the racket on his hip, trying to soothe the crying boy until his baby-milk was warm enough for him. It was a wonder her friend hadn't gone deaf yet, seeing as Wyatt all but yelled in his left ear.

She'd fallen asleep on a couch in the attic where Chris had been studying yet another tome he called 'Book of Shadows'. As far as the girl understood, it was a reference book on demons as well as charms, spells and potions written over generations by the family itself. Every new generation of Halliwell witches added their own experiences so to speak, it even had a mind of its own sometimes. Or so Chris had claimed.

It had been quiet and peaceful until the baby boy had decided to make his presence known and started crying so loud Dawn assumed the whole neighbourhood was able to hear him.

Finally though, the hollering came to an end when the halfbreed offered his big – well not so big right now – brother his bottle. Watching the child happily suckling his milk, the teen couldn't imagine that this adorable, helpless little fellow would grow up to be the Source of all Evil.

"He's so cute!" Dawn smiled at the boy who was now leaning his blonde head sleepily on Chris' shoulder, exhausted and still a bit red in his face from all his insistant crying, all the while never letting go of his bottle.

"Yeah," Chris agreed with a sad smile on his face, watching the little boy as well. "Do you know how strange this is, seeing him like that when he was always the older one; when the last thing I remember of him is... never mind."

Curious as she was, Dawn knew better than to push him. It was obviously a painful memory. The smile had vanished completely and Chris was staring off into space, propably replaying what he remembered inside his head.

"I have to find out what happened to him." His head was downcast now, face obscured by strands of brown hair and his voice was so quiet the girl could barely him. "I have to save him, Dawn. I couldn't bear..."

He didn't finish his thought but Dawn knew what he had wanted to say anyway. Her heart reaching out for him, she walked over to his dejected form and hugged him impulsively, mindful to not crush Wyatt in the process.

"You will do this, Chris!" She tried to comfort him. "I know you will. And we'll all help you, Spike, me and the others. I promise."

When she let go of him again, the witch looked up at her, a more cheerful smile grazing his lips this time.

"Thanks, Dawn."

And once more he was back to normal, none of the vulnerabilty he displayed only moments ago shining through now. If he didn't lower his masks around her once in a while, the girl wouldn't even know he had them.

Silently watching the two brothers, she noticed another thing.

"You handle the babysitting part quite well, you know. You don't seem to do this for the first time."

"Well," Chris began but then suddenly his eyes were going almost comically wide in shock at a realization Dawn couldn't even begin to fathom.

"Oh _damn_!" He swore loudly already standing up in haste and handing the infant over to the teen.

Wyatt as well as Dawn blinked up at him in confusion and he explained quickly. "I didn't leave Spike a message, he's propably going in circles right now! I'll be right back!"

Leaving no time for an argument the young man orbed out as soon as he stopped talking.

666

He was alarmingly right with his assumption.

Chris had about a second to witness Spike pacing in distress before the vampire rounded on him, agitation clearly visible.

"Where the bloody hell have you been! And where's the little bit!"

Holding his hands up in a gesture of surrender, the witch tried to pacify the raging vampire. So much for Spike not being crazy or overprotective...

"Calm down, Spike! Dawn's fine. I took her to the manor, when Phoebe called. She's babysitting Wyatt at this moment."

"You left her _alone_ in another _city_!" And so much for his attempts at assuaging his undead companion.

"_Spike!_" He tried once more to reason with him, but the vampire interrupted him at once, grabbing his shoulders in a vice-like grip, his eyes flickering a dangerous yellow at his effort to reign in that demon part of his.

"You take me to her this instance!"

Heaving a loud sigh in defeat, Chris rubbed at his tired eyes. It was over time for this day to end.

666

It was over time for this day to end, Piper decided as she arrived home.

First there had been a problem with the electricity at the club which she barely managed to take care of before the P3 opened, and then the band for the night had canceled for what_ever_ reason so she had to organize something different in less than four _frigging_ hours. And to tip it all off, now there was a stranger standing in the middle of her hallway with her baby boy in her arms, staring at her like a deer caught in headlights. Granted, the girl didn't _look_ dangerous, but what other explanation was there for her to even _be_ in the house if she wasn't _some_ kind of demon. And where in heaven's name was her middle sister!

The combination of an already crappy day and this new surprise at – what time was it again? - half past one in the morning didn't go well with her temper so she exploded: "Who the hell are you! And what are you doing with my son!"

The eldest Halliwell wouldn't have trusted herself to not use her powers if the girl didn't hold onto Wyatt. To her surprise though, the brunette stranger got over her shock pretty quickly and moved towards her, handing the infant over to his mother without resistance.

"You're his mom, Piper, aren't you?" She asked a bit hesitantly. "I'm a friend of Chris'."

"Ah, she's right, Piper!" An equally hesitant and slightly apologetic voice behind her sounded just then. So there was Poebe. "Don't blow her up."

Turning around, she caught sight not only of Paige, who had closed the car for her and was now curiously watching the whole scene from the doorway, but also their other sister, who was supposedly looking after Wyatt while they were at the club.

Cringing at Piper's stern glare, Phoebe was quick to give an explanation: "Well, Jason called and he wouldn't take no for an answer. I only had a few minutes left, so I called for Chris..."

"And where exactly _is_ Chris now?" Her older sister asked, doing her best at trying to keep her calm. When the empath didn't answer, she turned back to the girl who was looking at her kind of guiltily. Not wasting another minute Piper called for her aggravating Whitelighter. "CHRIS!"

Not even a second after her yell white blue orbs appeared next to the strange girl.

"Wow, that was fast!" She heard her youngest sister commenting in amazement.

But Chris didn't come alone. There was another stranger standing beside him. A tall stranger, clad in black clothes and a black duster, with bleached blonde hair, yellow eyes and fangs.

Tbc

A/N: I'm evil, I know _lol_

Actually I didn't plan to end the chapter here, but I didn't find more time, so deal with it XD At least, exams are finally over!

Do you know what it's like to have a scene in your head and are not able to write it yet, because it doesn't fit in? That's the problem I have at the moment. I know how the story will go on but I don't know yet how to get there. But don't worry, I'll find a way ;)

Actually this story was supposed to be a lot darker than it is right now. Must be the weather _shrug_ Spring's in the air, just in time for easter as well. But it will get darker, so beware.

Enough babbling for now.

Here's the translation for the beginning (another part of 'Und wenn ein Lied' by Soehne Mannheims):

_If there's danger ahead in the darkness,_

_I'm willing to make the first strike._

_I'm the first one to set you free_

_And one of the last to mourn for you._

Reviews:

Lonnie: I know, hehehe. Just like now, I guess ;)

phoebe turner: Thanks a lot. I updated :)

Leigh 1986: I didn't mean I won't update, only that the chapters are going to be shorter fora while. I do need the distraction when my head steams from all this medicine and maths ;) And about Spike, of course I don't mind refreshing your memory (but I'm not as firm as some others, I haven't watched the show for ages): Spike _is_ a bad guy in the beginning. Somewhere along the way he's been caught by some government group called the initiative, which catches demons, studies them and other evil government stuff... So, they put this chip in Spike's head that zips him with electric jolts whenever he hurts a human but not demons. He's able to flee, seeks refuge at the Slayer's - though I can't imagine why he did that - and ends up helping them. He grows to like Dawn and love Buffy. In later seasons, he even regains his soul, thoughI didn't see those episodes. And yes, I do know that he is totally out of character, but this _is_ fanfiction after all ;) I just thought that Chris had so much darkness in him that he would get along quite well with Spike -I did say that the story didn't turn out as dark as it was supposed to ; Anyway, thanks.

Mae: Well here's more :) Thanks for the rev, hope you like it.

Oh, Stony Angel pointed something out to me: I didn't explicitly say that Chris told Dawn and co. which family he comes from in 3. chapter, so please just pretend he did it anyway :)

If I forgot anyone, let me know, please.

The same goes for questions, remarks and if I explained anything wrong.

See ya next week ;)


	6. Family Portrait

Title: A Whitelighter's Priority

Author: rachelAbendstern

Summary: Spike is... well Spike and Leo is suspicious again

Spoilers: Season 6 Charmed; I forgot to mention BtVS last chapter, 'The Gift'

Disclaimer: Neither Buffy nor Charmed is mine, and I don't make any money with it. Lily though belongs to me XP

6. Family Portrait

_Can't we work it out?_

_Can't we be a family?_

_I promise I'll be better_

_Daddy please don't leave._

There were exactly two words that came to Chris' mind when he saw his mother's expression in the entrance hall of the manor.

_'Oh shit'_

Grabbing the vampire by the neck and yanking him down with him, he was just barely fast enough to get them out of harm's way when the Halliwell matriarch flicked her free hand in – what her future son _hoped_ was – pure instinct. Instead of the vampire and possibly Chris himself, yet another few vases and glasses were pulverised by Piper's powers.

"Oi," Spike's indignant tone startled everyone out of their frozen state when he yanked himself away from Chris' grip. "What the bloody hell d'you do that for!"

The youngest of the sisters stared speechless at him for a moment. Well, all of them did to be precise but Paige regained her composure the fastest and snorted sardonicly amused. "Look at yourself in a mirror for a moment and then ask again, why we are a bit wary of you."

Now, it was Dawn who snorted. "_That_ could turn out to be kind of difficult."

"_A bit wary_!" Chris all but shrieked at the same time. Was that really _his_ voice? "You almost blowed us both up!"

"Would have served you right for bringing a demon in here!" Piper mumbled loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Ah ah!" She then quickly intercepted the vampire with her hand held up at the ready when he wanted to approach Dawn. "You stay where you are fangface!" Spike scoffed impatiently when Chris' mother unknowingly chose the same nickname Xander used so frequently but surprisingly – although glaring at the witch in irritation – did as he was told.

"And you!" She now turned her anger onto Chris. "Have a hell of a lot of explaining to do!"

The sheer familiarity of the situation threw Chris off balance for a moment. How many times had he heard that same sentence when he or Wyatt had done something their mother was never supposed to find out – which she of course almost always did in the end. He felt like a scolded teenager all over again. Which was definately not of the good as Xander would say. He was their Whitelighter, damnit, they weren't supposed to make him feel like that anymore! Or was it not yet?

"Actually, it's my fault. In a way, because there's no fault to begin with," The young man heard Dawn suddenly babble her way through an explanation, focusing all attention on herself for a moment. It gave the young nephalim the time he needed to regain his equilibrium in order to deal with three seriously pissed off and powerful witches. "Spike's appointed himself my guardian or rather my sister, who was the Slayer, did that and Chris only wanted him to know that we're alright."

"Uhuh," Piper sounded a little overwhelmed after the rush of words and still sceptical, not that Chris blamed her. He really would have preferred if the sisters had returned home a bit later. And Spike still showing his demon face didn't help matters either.

"Would someone mind telling me what _kind_ of demon he is anyway?" Phoebe spoke up for the first time, gesturing in her nervous way at the stranger.

"A vampire." Chris informed them rather matter-of-factly. No point in beating around the bush.

He turned his gaze on still amber eyes beside him. "Christ, Spike, could you at least drop your game face!" Noticing the smirk tugging at the corners of the fanged mouth, the young man suddenly realized that the vamp thoroughly enjoyed this commotion he had stirred up. Crossing his arms over his chest, he rolled his eyes at the annoying undead and Spike's features finally melted into his human looking face, smirk firmly in place.

"Whoa!" He turned again to see Phoebe staring at his demonic companion in a funny way, looking him up and down now. "Vampire, huh. Not bad."

"No, he's quite good actually. As in not evil." Chris agreed, intend on lessening the already dying tension. Thank the gods that this family was used to weird situations and even weirder houseguests.

"Oi, pet! I'm evil. I might not be homicidal anymore but I'm still evil!" Of course, he could always count on someone making short work of his plans.

"I'm not your pet, Spike. And you're not really helping our case here!"

"No, he isn't!" Paige laughed suddenly. Taking note of the look her middle sister still gave the bleached stranger – who now in turn wiggled his eyebrows suggestively – she quickly shielded her sibling's eyes with her hand. "I think _you_ already had enough experiences of the demon variety!"

Looking back and forth between her sisters, Piper sighed in defeat and repositioned her sleepy kid on her hip. "You still are in trouble, mister!" She addressed her rogue Whitelighter, although she didn't use as much fervor as a few minutes ago. "And explanations, I want lots of explanations!"

That said, she resolutely climbed the stairs to put the baby back to sleep while Paige turned her attention again on their new acquaintance.

"So. Spike, yeah?" She asked rethorically. "Isn't that, I don't know... a little bit cocky?"

Remembering his own conversation on how exactly Spike had gained that particular nickname, Chris assured her wryly: "You have no idea!"

Registering the stares he got, that ranged from suspicious to shocked to amused, he asked completely bewildered: "What? What did I say now?"

"Err," Phoebe began but her sister interrupted with a question of her own. "Is there something you wanted to tell us about the both of you, Chris?"

"What? No!" What the heck were they talking about now? Not for the first time Chris felt like he had missed out on the important part of their conversation.

Before anyone else had the chance to say anything, Spike decided to clue him in in his own way. Chris felt a leather-covered arm encircling his shoulders and pulling him close to a lean hard chest. "Aw come on, pet!" He heard the familiar voice tinged with mockery near his ear. "Don't ya luv me anymore?"

The shocked young witch turned horror filled eyes to a devilishly smirking vampire as comprehension finally hit him.

First Dawn and now _Spike_? God, what were those guys taking him for?

666

It was about two hours until sunrise by the time they had finally finished their little discussion round. Until now, the vampire had never really understood why Chris didn't just come out and tell his family plain and simple that he was Piper's second son and had to stop her firstborn from bringing down their world in a sugar-induced powercrazed killing spree.

Now he knew. It had taken ages to convince the family matriarch that Dawn – _Dawn!_ – was nothing more and nothing less than an ordinary teenage girl with some really weird friends, relatives and hobbies. So maybe she _was_ no ordinary teenager but that still didn't make her some dangerous man-eating demon. Ok, and _that_ sounded just plain wrong but anyway.

Point was the little bit was a sweet girl as human as can be – without the bit of her only being a few months old, not that he told those witches that tidbit of information.

To convince them that Spike himself was no threat to them had taken a whole lot more persuasion-skills. They would propably still be arguing about him, had the nibblet not lost her patience and told them about his chip and that he couldn't hurt them even if he wanted to. Not that that was necessarily true. The youngest sister and the little boy were as much halfbreeds as their neurotic young visitor from the future, which meant that he undoubtedly was able to hurt them. But again the sisters didn't need to know that.

As for Chris, the vampire found it hard to believe his family hadn't already made the connection to who he really was – which was a part of their family – by themselves. Apart from the scent which just screamed 'clan' to each demon whose senses were as advanced as Spike's, there were other hints. The way he moved, the way he spoke, his determination, all that he had clearly inherited from his mother. He even looked like her. But apparently, humans only saw what they wanted to see, he of all people should know that.

And they had given the boy hell for bringing two strangers in the manor near the baby. Outwardly, the young man seemed unphased by their treatment, yet his agitation was almost palpable for the sensitve vampire. It surprised him that the boy's telekinesis hadn't raised havoc in the room already.

He could see now, why Chris didn't tell them. They were suspicious enough of him as it was; if he were to tell them about their kinship they would only see another ploy to get near them. It had to hurt like hell being so close to them again and yet farther away than ever. No wonder the boy was so easily getting worked up.

"How can they not see it?" He heard a soft voice next to him. Spike had almost forgotten about the girl at his side. Dawn and he were sitting in the living room alone, while the sisters held a conference in the kitchen and future boy was – where was Chris?

Suddenly becoming aware of the storm outside that seemed to have started out of the blue, an uneasy feeling crept up his spine while answering the little bit.

"Beats me, luv. They have to be blind to not notice."

"To notice what?" The three witches were filtering through the kitchen door again and the shorthaired one obviously had arrived in time to overhear his last remark.

Caught a bit off guard, Spike quickly looked over at the teenager. But the girl already opened her mouth to respond, her answer almost unnoticably underlined with anger: "That Chris only wants to help you! Do you think he would have taken the risk to travel back in time if there hadn't been a good reason? Protecting your family is his first priority, he told us that at the very first night we met."

Spike would have to watch out for the teen, he noticed. She was picking up on his more questionable skills. Of course, what she said was still true but it was certainly not the answer to the witch's question.

However, the witches seemed less than impressed. "He told you that?" the oldest woman, Chris' mother-to-be, snorted derisively. "You shouldn't take everything he says for granted. He lied to us more than once."

His own temper now rising, the vampire sneered at her. "Bloody hell, you are so pigheaded!" He didn't even know why her stubborness infuriated him the way it did. But as he wanted to rant on about their stupidity, his nostrils suddenly caught onto a new scent.

"Spike?" He heard the nibblet asking just as the faint smell registered. It was blood. Chris' blood.

Without caring about the stunned expressions he got, Spike leapt up, out into the hall and up the stairs where the scent was the strongest.

"Chris!"

666

Chris was on his way back from the bathroom when he felt a strong hand roughly grabbing his wrist and the sensation of being orbed against his will tingle all over his body. As soon as he had solid ground under his feet again, he yanked himself away from the offending grip. Through a haze of anger and confusion he recognized his new bearings as his mother's bedroom while all of his attention was now concentrated on the person in front of him who calmly cast a silence barrier over the room.

"What the hell are you playing at, Leo!" He exploded furiously. This _bastard_ was just unbelievable!

"That's what I'd like to know, too, Chris!" The Elder answered with this sort of cold calmness that sent shivers down Chris' spine.

"What did I do now?" Oh, great, no five seconds with that man and he was already in defensive mode. Some things propably never changed. "Is this about bringing Spike and Dawn here? Because, if you care to remember, they are part of the little group you wanted me to watch over! I couldn't very well leave Dawn on her own when Phoebe called me!"

"First of all," his father replied, his voice rising just a little in irritation, "I wanted you to watch over Willow and Tara and not all of them! What the hell did you think bringing a _vampire_ here!"

As Chris wanted to put in an objection, his future father held up his hand angrily, stopping him effectively before he even got one word out.

"And second, that's not what I came here for!" Leo held up his other hand, letting the pendant he had hidden there dangle on its cord in front of Chris' face. "This is!"

Of course he recognized the dull green amulet. The halfbreed just didn't want to think about that right now. Couldn't the Elder let it go and just accept what his stay in Valhalla had taught him?

"I don't have time for this!" He told Leo with a nervous laugh and tried to move past him.

But the older man obviously had other plans. "Oh no. We'll talk about this; now!" Reluctantly following the hand that suddenly gripped his elbow, he moved in front of Leo once more.

"I was willing to cut you some slack before, Chris. But not after I found out about this! You killed a valkyrie to get this. Whitelighter's don't kill, or didn't you read the manual!"

That self-righteous son of a bitch! He knew that he had done things he was not proud of and that was definately one of them, but he had done what he had to do, damnit! Growing up the way he did, it was kill or get killed and he had had a hard enough time to get used to the way things worked in this time.

"But it's alright for an Elder?" Chris asked mockingly, letting none of his rage show through even though he felt his powers threatening to break loose again. "You have valkyrie-blood on your hands, too."

"Fighting to protect the sisters!"

Chris couldn't help but sneer at that weak defense. "Oh. So that makes you the noble one."

Leo didn't take the bait though. He just stared the halfbreed down before continuing: "Face it, Chris, I got you this time!" Yeah, like avoiding the subject would make it any less true.

"This is enough to get your Whitelighter status stripped and your soul send back to earth for recycling!"

And how corny did that sound, recycling a soul like it was trash. Then again, this was Leo he was talking to, so maybe it was exactly what the Elder was thinking. Not like that was anything new.

"The Elders have already arranged the hearing."

White hot hate seared through Chris at the calm statement. That was just so like them!

"You would!" He hissed, while outside the window dark clouds gathered quickly, blocking the stars from view. "That's _all_ you ever do!" He wasn't quite sure himself whether he meant his father or the Elders in general while he watched the confusion creeping onto Leo's features.

"What are you talking about, Chris?"

"You _bailed_ on us!" The young witch blew up in the other man's face as rain started to pound on the windows.

"You self-righteous bastards! You always interfere at the worst moments possible, and when we really need you, you just sit up there in Elderland, talking some shit about discussing things calmly while there's innocents dying down on earth. You just sat in your sacred council all high and mighty, watching the world go down in a basket case while claiming it was all part of some fucked-up Grand Design! And when you finally figured something was wrong, it was too late to do anything and it got you _killed_! So excuse me if I don't think your way to handle things will work!"

Windows rattling under a particularly strong gust of wind brought Chris back to reality. He couldn't believe he had let himself go like this. He couldn't believe it still hurt that bad.

"Shit!" Raking his hands through his hair, he turned towards the window even as the storm calmed down with his draining emotions, while his father stood shellshocked at this unexpected outburst.

"Chris," he heard Leo taking a step toward him, but they both stopped dead when they suddenly heard a low keening coming from Wyatt's room on the other side of the corridor.

Chris' whole body went cold as he thought of the possible explanations. "Wyatt..."

Without heeding the other man, he quickly orbed into his brother's room.

666

Trying to shake off his confusion, Leo quickly followed the younger Whitelighter's example and orbed into Wyatt's room.

He arrived to a minor disaster. His little son had his protective shield up, tears spilling down his cheeks while Chris knelt on the floor, clutching a hand to his shoulder where protruded what seemed to be a Darklighter arrow. Casting a quick glance around the room, he found the Darklighter who the arrow belonged to standing in the far corner, a triumphous sneer plastered on his face.

"He said, you'd show up if I threatened the infant!" Leo couldn't make anything of that information, but he saw Chris' head snap up. There was an unreadable expression on the boy's face when he forcefully wrenched the arrow out, throwing it away from both him, Leo and Wyatt and standing up to face the dark creature.

"You think you can kill me this easily?"

Despite his contemptuous words, Leo could already see the poison taking effect by Chris' pale and sweaty skin.

If only he could figure this boy out. His earlier outburst was the most honest reaction the Elder had ever seen Chris show, and he really didn't like what his furious words had implied. His attempts at keeping Wyatt save weren't an act either, apparently. But why was keeping his son save so important?

Wanting to help Chris for the time being but not willing to be the first to break the fragile cease-fire, Leo just stood there for a few seconds. He didn't have to wait long however. Barging through the door in a swirl of black leather and yellow eyes just seconds after the Elder himself had arrived there, the vampire burst into the room, quickly taking stock of the situation.

The man completely understood now why people harboured such a primal fear of those creatures of the night. Fangs to the fore, yellow eyes blazing with anger and bloodlust, Spike looked nothing short of the ferocious monster the legends described.

Startled by a sudden hissing sound, he looked at the Darklighter who held his crossbow raised in the demon's direction.

"Bloody hell!" Spike didn't sound too happy at but not particularly affected either by the shaft sticking out of his stomach. "Be careful where you aim that at, would you!"

"Get Wyatt out of here, Leo!" For once not questioning Chris' words, the older man hastened to snatch his son out of his cot, orbing them into the hallway where the sisters and the girl were stumbling up the stairway just as the Darklighter's weapon went flying.

Another few heartbeats later they all heard something like a twig snapping and then the roaring of flames before complete silence settled over the manor and Leo guessed the vampire had snapped the attacker's neck.

They all took a glance at each other before bolting for the door. Inside the room, they found the young Whitelighter leaning against the wall, eyes closed and breathing heavily while Spike stood near him, watching him in some kind of reluctant concern. For a vampire he sure did act out of character, Leo mused distractedly. Yellow eyes fastened on his form and the Elder felt a shiver go down his spine.

"You bloody well better heal him, git!"

Rembering the arrow, Leo handed a now silently watching Wyatt over to his mother and hurried over to heal the poisoned wound. Never mind his ambivalent feelings for the boy, he wouldn't just let him die and certainly not without getting a few answers first.

"He does like to swear a lot, doesn't he?" Phoebe's voice broke the strained atmosphere, the teen's answering chuckle doing the rest at relieving the almost painful tension.

"You bet your ass!"

Taking a step back to survey his junior Whitelighter when he had completed his task, Leo decided to let loose on a few of his questions. Starting with: "Why is it so important to save Wyatt? What could possibly be evil and powerful enough to threaten this whole world?"

Chris squirmed under his gaze uncomfortably. "I can't tell you."

Anger flared up in Leo at Chris' usual response to those kind of questions. "Damnit, Chris. This is my son we're talking about! You better well tell me what's going to happen!"

"I _can't_!" The younger man almost desperately held his ground. "I already said way too much as it is!"

"Like that's going to help any!"

As the young man remained silent, Leo tried a different approach. "Why was this Darklighter after you?"

This time, Chris looked him straight in the eyes when he answered: "Because I pissed someone off. Someone with enough power to hire an assassin."

His temper rising again, the Elder accused him icily: "You put my family in danger, because you pissed some demon off?"

A low growl beside him abruptly reminded Leo of the presence of the vampire and he chanced a quick glance at the demon. Spike wore his human face once more but his eyes flashed a dangerous amber.

"Nibblet!" He heard the distinct British accent even in this one word. For a moment, Leo didn't know who Spike had addressed until the girl walked over to them. Taking her hand and grabbing Chris by the wrist, the demon exclaimed: "Time to go home!" In fact, it was more of a poorly concealed order.

Calming down a bit, the older man tried to hold them back. "Chris..."

"Don't." The boy's voice suddenly sounded tired.

After a last weary glance at the Halliwell family, white blue orbs surrounded the small group and seconds later they were gone.

Facing the blank wall now, Leo swore under his breath. He could feel the sisters watching him, but he didn't turn around for another few moments. Somehow, this young man always manage to make his blood boil. And he actually believed Chris' intentions even though his actions were more than dubious at times.

The boy's emotional outburst from before kept gnawing on his insides. He would definately try his best at convincing the other Elders to let Chris keep his Whitelighter status, if only to buy some time so he could uncover his secrets.

666

_"God, Chris, what were you thinking!"_

_Leo angrily scolded his son, while Chris stood defiantly in front of him, arms protectively crossed over his chest, looking anywhere but at his father._

_The Elder had caught him training with Bianca and to say he was less than pleased about that discovery would be the understatement of the year. Leo was furious._

_"She's a Phoenix, Chris! She's evil! You cannot trust her! What were you thinking!"_

_"I was thinking it couldn't hurt to learn how to defend myself!" The boy finally burst out. "What would you say if I told you that Wyatt originally hired her to get me?"_

_"Damnit, Chris!" His enraged father rounded on him. "I told you before to stop lying about your brother! Why do you do this to me? Don't you think I haven't got enough problems to take care of without you trying to get your brother into trouble?"_

_That stung. Why couldn't his father see the truth? Why did he always believe Wyatt over him? He propably didn't even know that Chris had moved out of the manor some months ago, seeing as he only ever came down to earth anymore when he was called for or when he accidentally saw Chris doing something he didn't approve of and decided to play parent again. He looked at the man who called himself his father and only saw another self-righteous Elder standing in front of him, trying to keep up some pretence of having a family. Well, consequences be damned._

_"You're precious twice-blessed Wyatt is the reason for all your trouble, why can't you see that? You sit up there with your beloved freaking pacifist friends playing allmighty judges and closing your eyes to the truth! This world has turned into a demon's playground and you still have the audacity to talk about not being allowed to interfere because everything happens for a fucking reason! Open your eyes, Leo! This city is a battlefield and you don't even notice! Innocents die, demons wrack havoc and obey Wyatt's every bid and command! What else has to happen for you to finally believe me!"_

_A loud smack and a sharp sting on his cheek ended his rant. Chris stared at his father incredulously, reaching a hand up to cup his cheek. Suddenly he felt drained. And defeated. His father would never believe him._

_"I won't allow you to talk like that about your brother. And I will not allow you to see that woman again!"_

_"And how exactly are you planning to stop me?" Chris challenged him eerily calm. He couln't muster up the energy to be angry anymore. It wasn't worth it anyway because his father wouldn't listen._

_"How will you stop me? You haven't been a father to me for longer than I care to remember. Do you want to put me under arrest when you're never actually there to make sure I obey you?"_

_He smiled sadly at the Elder's gobsmacked expression. It was time to cut his losses._

_"I know you always favored my brother because of his abduction. But you cannot excuse everything with that tragedy."_

_Summoning up his remaining strength and courage, he bid a last farewell to his father. "Don't come after me again,_ father_. I'm done with you. If you want to be blind that's fine with me but don't blame _me_ if that little dream-world of yours comes crashing down one day. Take care."_

_Chris orbed out before his tears started to fall, leaving a father behind who didn't know what hit him._

tbc

A/N: Sorry, guys - and girls;). I tried to upload this yesterday but the document was rejected. Or my PC just didn't want to play nice...

Hope you enjoyed this, it's a bit longer again.

And for the record, the theme above is from 'Family Portrait' by Pink.

On to the reviews ;)

Lonnie: Thanks :P

phoebe turner: Wow, I didn't know I had that much an impact

Anigen: Thanks. Actually I don't know what that wordmeans but I just take it as a compliment ;)

Yoshimi Wolfspaw: Thanks. And thanks for the information. Did you talk to Karone Evertree:)

huge fan: Thank you! I updated :P

See ya all next week :)

And don't forget to review ;)


	7. A new Clan

Title: A Whitelighter's Priority 

Author: rachelAbendstern

Summary: Paige muses on Chris, Chris contemplates on family and Tara worries...

Spoilers: Season 6 Charmed; I forgot to mention BtVS last chapter, 'The Gift'

Disclaimer: Neither Buffy nor Charmed is mine, and I don't make any money with it. Lily though belongs to me XP

7. A new Clan

_Horizon rising up to meet the purple dawn  
Dust demon screaming, bring an eagle to lead me on  
For in my heart I carry such a heavy load  
Here I am on Man's road, walking Man's road..._

While leafing through the Book of Shadows, researching the latest demon their neurotic secretive Whitelighter wanted the Charmed Ones to vanquish, Paige Mathews contemplated the young man who was currently keeping her company in the kitchen, every once in a while sorting through the shelves for a herb or some other ingredient he needed for the potion he was brewing on the table.

She just couldn't figure him out, none of them could. The morning after Chris' departure with that vampire friend of his and the young girl last week, Leo had told them about the events before and during the Darklighter attack. As much as she wanted to believe that it was all just another plot of the cunning youth, Paige had a bad feeling about the things she had learned from her brother-in-law. Because if she had learned one thing about Chris, it was that Leo could unsettle his fellow Whitelighter like no one else and she knew from experience that you said things you didn't want to say when agitated.

Once again Dawn's words came back to her. _Do you think he would have taken the risk to travel back in time if there hadn't been a good reason?_ Maybe the girl had been right. The young witch didn't even want to think about the things that would have to happen for _her_ to take the risk of timetraveling to change everything she knew, her whole life, her whole world deliberately; taking the chance of never seeing her loved ones, her family again.

Did Chris leave a family behind? Paige had wondered about that question ever since they had rescued their Whitelighter from this pocket-realm he had been stuck in. That demon had created his world basing on Chris' very own dreams and fantasies. And although everything had lain in ruins by the time Paige had cast a look in the enchanted water, she had seen other bodies lying behind Chris on the floor of a destroyed house; the bodies of a woman and a child.

Sometimes there was something almost familiar about him, whenever he let himself relax enough to dismiss his neurotic nature for a few moments. But whenever Paige almost had a grasp on it, he changed back into their unapproachable reserved Whitelighter who wouldn't tell them what they were actually trying to fight against. Of course, there was always the possibility – providing she believed his story – that Chris didn't know himself what had caused all the damage in his future and was just eliminating every demon in his way hoping the one he looked for would show up eventually.

And again, even if she was repeating herself: she just couldn't figure him out! Every time she thought she had, one way or the other, the young man turned around and proofed her wrong by doing something incredibly stupid or suspicious or heroic or all of the former together. Like the time he had vanished from their radar not too long ago and Leo caught him in the company of a potions master in the Underworld.

Or like last week when he left Wyatt with a strange girl and brought the vampire along to the manor. Not that that had caused any permanent harm. Actually Paige found Spike and Dawn quite amiable. The vampire didn't make a secret of his true nature, he didn't try to be something he wasn't and that was something Paige could honor.

With Cole, it had always been a gamble. Oh, she didn't doubt the love that had existed between the half-demon and her sister, but Cole had fought against everything he had once been to be with Phoebe. And although the youngest Halliwell sister truly admired that, they never could tell when Cole's past would catch up with him again and his true nature would show.

Spike on the other hand didn't deny his demon side, he was proud of it. It didn't make any sense really, because why would a vampire play nice with what basically could be considered his lunch? But that didn't change the fact that Spike would permanantly damage anyone who dared to lay a hand on who he called his friends. Apparently that included Chris now as well. It didn't make Paige trust the vampire farther than she could throw him. It did earn him her respect however.

There was another thing Leo had mentioned that none of them could make any sense of – yet. That strange night there had been a storm that no wheather forecast had predicted or could truly explain the day after. Neither of Paige's family members could honestly claim they remembered when that storm had started exactly, but Leo was quite sure that it had lessened the moment Chris had calmed down after his outbreak. And that didn't make any sense at all because there was no witch or Whitelighter in their time who could influence the wheather like this.

Giving up on pretending to study the Book, the Charmed One settled for watching the youth in front of her working on his potion. A lot of things didn't make any sense lately, it seemed. Like right now the way Chris seemed to be so familiar with the kitchen he didn't even have to ask where to find the stuff he needed.

It was only now that Paige noticed the boy didn't look particularly healthy. He had dark circles beneath his eyes, his skin was a shade too pale for her liking and he looked about ready to drop dead the moment his head touched a pillow.

"Are you feeling alright, Chris?" She asked concerned. Only because she couldn't decide whether or not to trust him didn't mean she didn't care about his wellbeing – at least not all of the time.

Startled out of his current occupation, the young man looked up at her, obviously trying to process her question. "Of course," he answered confused. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Well, you look all pale and tired."

"I didn't get much sleep lately," he confessed a bit reluctantly. Then he flashed her a grin and again Paige had the distinct feeling that she ought to remember that grin from somewhere. "Don't worry, I am still able to nag you into madness until you finish this demon off!"

A joking Chris? Paige raised her eyebrows. Now that was something new. Although she had to admit it suited him rather well. That boy was too serious for his own good most of the time, even for a Whitelighter.

Deciding to take opportunity of his good mood, she wanted to satisfy her curiosity at least on one aspect regarding last week's events.

"May I ask you a question?" Immediately, Chris eyed her suspiciously. Not that he would answer any of her other questions anyway, she thought dryly.

"Depends."

"What is it with Spike?" Even as she spoke she could see cautious relief flicker over her Whitelighter's features. "I mean even with this chip in his head, he's still a vampire. Why does he help humans in their fight against demons? And why is he so protective of Dawn."

Snickering in amusement over a pinch of sage he was about to add to the potion, he replied: "From what the gang told me, he didn't really intentionally help them at first. I don't know why he thought the Slayer and her friends would be willing to help him when he escaped from these people who put the chip in his head." The concept of a Slayer still amazed Paige. Dawn had explained it for them when they wanted to know who she was last week. "But apparently they did – although under protest. And later, when he discovered that he could kick demons' asses he stayed around to get a bit of action – and violence."

"Okay," but "That doesn't exactly explain his protectiveness."

"I know. I wondered about that myself to be honest." Wrinkling his forehead in thought, Chris leaned his hands on the kitchen table, the cauldron in front of him.

"And what did you find out?" Paige asked curiously.

"Well, I am not exactly the expert when it comes to vampires."

"You're a walking encyclopaedia. If you researched, you propably know more about it than any Slayer by now." That casual declaration earned her an evil glare from the young man. Nevertheless he continued.

"Vampires usually live in clans, families. Either they stay with their Sire, try to form a clan of their own or live with vampires of other clans, even if they were only minions. Either way – and I _know_ Spike will kill me for saying this – they are like pack animals. They don't really like to be all on their own. The chip has made Spike somewhat of an outcast. Vampires don't consider him one of their own anymore because he cannot be what he was made to be. For humans he still is a bloodthirsty monster. The only place where he was actually in_ any _way welcome at all was with the Slayer and her friends. I don't think he would agree on this but Buffy became a surrogate for his sire in the meaning that she was the leader of their small group. When she died and made him promise to protect her sister, Spike took her place in the hierarchy. And again I don't think that he would admit it or is even consciously aware of himself, but I have the feeling that he claimed them as his new clan. And being the head of a clan, you watch out for your family members."

Nodding in agreement, Paige eyed the youth. At least this part of the story kind of made sense. "And that includes you now, too, apparently." She told him earnestly.

That obviously caught Chris off guard. "What!" A confused laugh escaped his lips as he stared at her in shock.

"Oh come on! How else would you explain that he got all growly when Leo got angry at you?"

666

Feeling a sudden strong grip on his lower arm, Chris turned his head to look at the person next to him. Dawn was obviously unaware of the fact that she was clutching at him as she was staring wide-eyed at the television. They were sitting on the sofa together with Xander and Anya, with Spike sprawled on the floor in front of them and Willow and Tara sharing an easy chair next to the couch. The young witch-Whitelighter honestly had no idea how the gang had talked him into watching the first episode of the original Star Wars trilogy but it was kind of nice now that he sat here. It had been a while since he last had watched tv. In the future they rarely had had the electricity or time to spare and here in the past he just wasn't used to it anymore. Although he remembered one time, Lily's last birthday to be exact, when his little daughter had made her parents watch Disney's Beauty and the Beast. That evening was one of his better memories of his life after the Event.

He prayed to all gods that would listen to him that he didn't mess up and change that part of the future.

Looking around, watching his two charges cuddle, hearing Spike's and Xander's constant bickering and seeing Anya and Dawn roll their eyes at 'their' men, the young witch thought about his earlier conversation with his aunt.

Having a vampire claim you as family should have been creepy only it wasn't. Chris didn't know if Paige was right, he didn't even know if he himself was right with his assumption, but somehow this felt like family nevertheless, more so than with his true relatives in San Francisco. He knew he could count on everyone of them, even Xander and – in her own weird way – Anya, even though he didn't spend all that much time with the curious couple.

The idea to have a family again, a family that consisted of brothers and sisters and one really bizzare patriarch was a welcome one. Chris hadn't really had a family to look out for him since the time Wyatt had changed so dramatically. His brother had always been... different, more so than they already were with their heritage, but his parents had never wanted to see that. Piper's death had been the last straw, the one thing that could have happened to push his older brother over the edge he had so long teetered at. And all Chris had been able to do was standing at the sidelines and watching helplessly as his brother changed more and more from the boy he once knew, looked up to, to the coldhearted tyrant that didn't care about anything but himself and the power he possessed.

Sighing with fatigue, the young man turned his attention back on the tv where Luke Skywalker currently had to convince Han Solo and this overgrown teddybear of a wookie to save princess Leia.

With the voices of his surrogate family and the noises of the movie echoing in his head, Chris' eyes slid shut and his head fell back on the couch as he drifted off into sleep.

666

Long arms slipped around her waist from behind and she unconsciously leaned into the embrace of her lover as she watched her Whitelighter sleeping on their living room couch. Spike was somewhere in the kitchen raiding the fridge of the last bags of blood, Dawn was already in bed and Xander and Anya had left only minutes ago.

"What are you worrying about, sweety?" Tara heard Willow's voice whisper in her ear.

"Chris." The young witch turned slightly to look into the redhead's eyes. "Did you notice how tired he is lately?" Oh, she knew by now that the halfbreed slept over at their house quite often, but usually he woke up if anyone approached him. Tonight though, he didn't even stir when Dawn and her had lain him down more comfortably on the couch and tucked him into a blanket.

"Does that really surprise you?" Willow asked her with raised eyebrows. "I mean, that he doesn't sleep in the shop or the library is about all, what with all the research he is doing. He's even worse than Giles."

Tara squirmed a bit. The other witch was right about that, but she still had a bad feeling. She just couldn't place her finger on it. Chris seemed to get weaker since a few days and she didn't know why or what they could do about it. All she knew was that he was constantly tired and pale and – when did he eat anyway?

"I know," she sighed, pulling her lover in a reassuring embrace. "I just have this really bad feeling."

tbc

A/N: So, what's wrong with Chris? I'm sure you'll find the answer ;)

Anyway, I didn't really accomplish much that week. I planned to do a bit of reading and reviewing, but school started and teachers already drown us in work. And then there was this plot bunny that wanted to come out of my head. Now I know why Anya believes they are evil ;P So instead of using my freetime to get on with this story, I began this other one. It's only a two chapter story though, so it won't interfere with this one too long.

The beginning's from Man's Road by America this time (I simply love the movie The Last Unicorn!).

And now on to the reviews:

phoebe turner: Thanks! And well, he propably will, but that will have to wait for a while.

hope master: ... I deign not to comment on that this time. ;) But a huge thanks anyway!

Leigh1986:Well thanks! And it's no biggie that you didn't review. Which reminds me by the way that I still have to read the last two chapters of your own story. Don't think I don't like it because I do, but I just didn't come around to do much reading the last week and a half :(

mewer44444: Ok, first of all: Thanks! And now: Sorry to disappoint you, but no. This won't be a Chris/Spike story (except when a whole lot more of you want that...) I'm not opposed to a bit of good slash, but I justdidn't plan it for this story. But they would make a cute couple ;) (And if any of you don't like slash, just pretend you didn't just read that :P) As for the couples, there are the canon ones like Tara/Willow, Xander/Anya, Chris/Bianca, Leo-Piper, Phoebe/Jason, though the story won't focus on romance. Perhaps I'll hook Paige up with... oh, I don't know yet, let's wait and see :)

YoshimiWolfspaw:Thanks! Me too :)

Lonnie: Don't worry. We will meet Lily in later chapters of the story. I wouldn't have mentioned her otherwise.You'll just have to be patient ;)

rhia: Thank you!

You guys really keep me going! You are great, all of you!


	8. Preparations

Title: A Whitelighter's Priority

Author: rachelAbendstern

Summary: Everyone's preparing for Wyatt's birthday...

Spoilers: Season 6 Charmed; I forgot to mention BtVS last chapter, 'The Gift'

Disclaimer: Neither Buffy nor Charmed is mine, and I don't make any money with it. Lily though belongs to me XP

8. Preparations

_So keep on kicking  
The bomb is ticking  
Don't stop  
Don't be a runaway  
Go for the fire  
Baby are you tough enough?  
Just keep on living  
And don't start giving  
The delicate reasons  
To get you in the seasons of heartbreak  
Baby are you tough enough?_

God, he was in so much trouble!

It was not enough that he had to worry about the assassin Wyatt had sent after him this month. Because unlike Leo was thinking, that Darklighter hadn't been sent by some _demon_ Chris had pissed off. No, that little visit had been courtesy of his older brother and now Chris was left to worry if Wyatt had sent an assassin into the past by plain luck, hoping he would find and destroy his unfaithful sibling or if he had found a way around the time barrier to keep contact with his servant, maybe even found a new spell or potion that would open the portal in both directions unlike the one-way ticket Chris had had to use himself. Either way however, his brother would keep sending assassins after him until he was sure one of them had fulfilled their mission.

A sharp stab of anger mixed with pain pierced his heart at that knowledge. Wyatt had done so many things in his lifetime, to Chris as well as the rest of the world. But never had he truly attempted to kill his younger brother. He must have gone mad beyond reason when he learned of Chris' disappearance. Chris only hoped Bianca and Lily were safe. If Wyatt ever found out about his wife's betrayal, there was no place on this earth where she or their daughter could run from him.

Involuntarily, the young witch shuddered with a sense of foreboding. He didn't have his aunt Phoebe's gift of clairvoyance but he always did have a knack of knowing where things were headed...

Of course, maybe Wyatt wouldn't even need to send assassins to get rid of Chris. Because that was the other thing he was worried sick about at the moment – literally.

With all the turbulence his life currently consisted of in this time, his obsession to find the one who would turn his older brother, the young man had completely forgotten about one – rather important – fact: his own conception.

As it was at the moment, his chances to be born stood less than fantastic. And it was his own fault, he knew that. When the Titans went after the Elders and Whitelighters that very first week he spent in the past, the Charmed Ones had had to become goddesses to stop them – and much faster so than in his own past.

In Chris' timeline, the Elders had been too insecure, too afraid of the consequences to do what was necessary until it was almost too late. There were only a handful of Whitelighters and even fewer Elders left before they finally saw reason. And as much as Chris despised them, that couldn't happen in this timeline since one of the reasons his brother so easily had taken control was the serious lack of balanced power in the Elders' council.

The only way to avoid that had been to push someone into charge that wasn't afraid of what had to be done and had enough trust in the sisters to give them that much power over the whole world. The only way had been to make Leo an Elder. Whatever else he thought of the man, his father had never been one to back down from a responsibility. At least not until it came to Wyatt.

So now, he had two split up parents who had yet to screw for him to be conceived and no idea how to fix the mess he had brought onto himself. Chris hadn't even noticed the effect it had on him at first. He just thought he didn't get enough sleep – god knew that was true – but he was getting weaker by the day. After even Spike had voiced his concern – well, as much as you could call the sentence: "You look like shit, witch boy. Anything wrong?" concerned – something had snapped into place in his head and he had remembered with sudden horror that it was only a little over nine month until his birth date. He had done his homework then and went from fortune teller to fortune teller, getting birth augurs done and what not. What he came up with didn't do anything to reassure him. His conception date was Wyatt's first birthday. Which was in two days.

And he was running out of ideas by now. This last week he had tried almost everything to get his parents back together, from failed love potions to bizarre spells, which all had taken a rather awry effect. He supposed the personal-gain-small-print interfered with his attempts but had it really been necessary to have your own aunts and mother hit on you for god's sake! That had been just _so_ wrong! After that he had tried to set up Leo and Piper the mortal way. Needless to say it didn't work – and boy if they didn't all think he belonged into a guarded ward by now!

666

Spike eyed the young man who sat on his regular place on the couch, studying his ever-present books from his perch against the doorframe. Something was seriously wrong with Chris, and the vampire had every intention of finding out just what exactly it was.

Chris hadn't been his usual self for a few days now. Normally, the half-breed was always aware of another person in the room but lately Spike had managed to sneak up on him more times than he was comfortable with. While he'd like to think it was because his skills had improved since they had first met, he knew that it wasn't the truth. Chris looked ill. His skin was pale, his eyes dull, he was way too easily exhausted and he reeked of weakness. In old days, the young man would have made the perfect prey for the vampire. As it was, Spike was more concerned about the boy than looking for easy prey. Yes, he had finally admitted that he was concerned about the whole lot of them. Not that he knew how that had happened...

But since he couldn't deny it any longer he might as well ask the boy about his problem. For Spike had the distinct feeling Chris knew exactly what was wrong with him. And this time, he wouldn't let witch-boy get away with the elusive answers he gave anyone who sounded vaguely concerned about him.

So, walking over to the oblivious young man he called: "Oi, pet! What's wrong with you?"

And once again, the boy jumped in surprise. "Spike! _Don't_ sneak up on me like that!"

"You know, that's the whole point of me asking you if something is wrong," the vampire countered quickly.

"You usually sense better than me if someone is coming near you." Chris opened his mouth to respond but Spike quickly interrupted him. "And don't give me that shit that it was nothing, because I think I know you enough by now to know that there is some soddin' trouble ahead."

He almost had to smirk at the sullen glare the witch threw his way. He did smirk when the silence stretched on without Chris making any move to explain. If the whelp wanted to play, that was fine by him...

"You know, if you don't want to tell me, I could always contact the sisters and tell them your little secret. I'm sure your mom will find a way to... _convince_ you to talk."

The vampire was fairly certain that this argument would do the trick. After all, he had seen the almost comical respect the boy had for his brisk kick-ass mother.

"You're playing dirty!" Chris shot a frustrated complaint.

Squirming uncomfortably under Spike's amused stare, the young man finally gave in with a roll of his eyes. "Oh, fine! Mom and Dad split up. And it's only about nine month until I am supposed to be born."

Was that supposed to make sense? "Meaning?"

The boy slumped in his seat letting his head fall against the back of the couch. "Meaning," he elaborated wearily, "they have to screw within the next two days; or I'm screwed."

If Spike still had had the urge to breathe, he would have been in serious need of oxygen right now. Dumbfounded he sat down heavily beside the youth, for once not having anything to say. That is, he would have had something to say if only he could get his mouth to cooperate. Like 'Ridiculous' or... 'Ridiculous'! Did he mention 'Ridiculous'?

"I won't even be history, because technically I would never have even existed." Chris went on without noticing the state of shock his companion was in.

Finally regaining his cool, Spike told him matter-of-factly: "Well then. We'll just have to sort out a way to bring them together again, won't we?" He would burn in hell before he would let anything happen to the boy – well, more so than he already would have to anyway.

"I already tried, Spike," Chris sighed in exhaustion. "Everything from potion to love spell to blind dates. The only thing I managed so far was getting my aunts and mom to want to jump my bones!"

Spike snorted involuntarily. "Bad mental image!" Despite everything the boy and sisters were family, even if three quarters of them didn't know that yet.

"You tell me! It was gross!"

"Don't worry, Chris!" Spike tried to reassure him after a small contemplating silence. "Me and the nibblet will work something out. Your parents _will_ get back together."

After all, there was nothing the little bit and him liked to do more than conspiring.

666

It was the evening before Wyatt's birthday that Victor Bennett stood nervously outside the door of Halliwell manor. Part of him was itching to turn around and run away while the other part was trying its best to convince him to just go ahead and finally ring that damn doorbell. Heavens knew he owed it to his girls.

Perhaps it was too late for him to be the father they deserved. But he really wanted to make up for his failure as a father with his little grandson. It was the least he could do. Maybe even, his brave Prue would see him from wherever she was now and believed him when he said family truly did mean something to him. Regardless however he wanted to see his grandson again, so when his now eldest daughter had invited him to stay over for the child's birthday, he had readily accepted.

The man had arrived right after nightfall after a rather pleasant flight from New York to San Francisco. He only hoped that this time there would be no surprises of the demon kind or stray magic kind or whatever the hell seemed to be everyday life for the three girls. The sisters might be used to it by now, but Victor still had troubles of grasping the concept of Wiccan lifestyle sometimes – even after decades with first hand experiences. Which of course was a huge part of the reason he didn't visit his girls nearly as often as he ought to.

Finally scraping together all his courage, he rang the bell and instantly heard Piper's muffled but unmistakeable voice – or rather what he liked to call her commando tone. As much as he wanted to deny it, she eerily resembled her grandmother Penny in quite a few ways.

"Chris! Go get the door, would you? I'm covered in dough at the moment."

Instead of an answer or footsteps approaching, he heard the low chime of Whitelighter orbs on the other side of the door, accompanied by a dulled light as the person on the other side materialized. 'Another Whitelighter?' Victor thought confused. Wasn't Leo his daughters' guardian angel? Or had they found yet another half-breed like Paige, his lively stepdaughter?

The thought of Paige still brought the old pain back to life. The pain of having lost his Patty to another man, an _angel_ for god's sake; of having lost Patty because of his own stupidity, his own cowardice. It had taken him a while to get used to the idea that his ex-wife had had a daughter with another man, but he also knew that none of this had been the girl's fault so he kept his animosity directed at the full-blooded Whitelighters and tried to get along with her – which was surprisingly easy really.

The opening door interrupted his little trip down Memory Lane and abruptly he found himself face to face with some young man who looked entirely too much like Piper not to be another Halliwell sibling he hadn't known of yet. The boy couldn't have been much older than twenty two, twenty three, the man noted absent-mindedly.

"Hello..." Deciding to take the straight forward approach, he continued, "Let me guess: You are another sibling the Halliwell women didn't tell me about, aren't you?"

To say the young man looked shocked was putting it mildly. His face drained of the little colour it had to begin with and he stuttered awkwardly. "I'm,... no, I'm..."

He was saved from further awkwardness however as Piper came down the hall, still drying her hands on a towel with a bright smile on her face. "Chris a Halliwell? That's ludicrous. He's just our new Whitelighter."

His daughter couldn't see, because 'Chris' had his back towards her but Victor thought he had caught a fleeting look of misery on the boy's features. He didn't have time to ask about it however because the moment the young man stepped back, Piper engulfed him in a bone crushing hug, welcoming him with genuine happiness. "Hello Dad! It's good to see you!"

666

His day was getting worse by the minute!

Why hadn't Piper told him that she had invited his grandfather – no, _Wyatt's_ grandfather, he reminded himself sternly – over for the kid's birthday? Then again, why would she? It was not like she was aware of their relationship. And what would he have done had he known? Not come to the manor? After all, this was maybe the last chance to get his parents together in time. Chris was already reeling under the effects it had on him that this chance was becoming smaller and smaller.

At least he would have been prepared. He had been about ready to black out when he unexpectedly faced a younger version of his grandpa.

Life was a bitch, truly and honestly! Chris had known this long since, but he was just painfully reminded of that fact. There stood the one person he had always been able to go to, talk to, who had never treated him like he was nothing more than a nuisance and had always listened to what he had had to say without judging him or ridiculing him. The one person he had always been able to trust and he couldn't even tell him how much he had missed him!

And to top it all off, his grandpa had noticed on first sight what every other member of this family had been oblivious to! Chris should have known really. Victor was more perceptive than people made him out to be and just because he was not quite comfortable with magic around didn't mean he hadn't picked up on a few things over the years.

Laughter sounded from the living room, where the sisters had taken their father while Chris himself stood in the kitchen, continuing his mother's preparation of the cookies and birthday cake for tomorrow. Living with an ex-chef-cook for a good part of his life had taught him quite a few tricks when it came to food.

Chris had exactly two reasons for wanting to stay in this room in the first place. Working in the kitchen kept him away from the rather painful presence of his grandpa. Chris didn't trust himself not to give anything away with Victor nearby. The old man had always had a knack of knowing when his grandson lied and the half-breed didn't particularly want to push his luck, even though his grandpa didn't technically know him yet.

He suddenly heard the door opening and saw Dawn standing there, a happily giggling Wyatt in her arms. Oh, yes. That was the other reason why he wanted to stay away from the living room.

Spike and Dawn had come up with the great idea that they would only be able to help him, if they were here in San Francisco to make Leo and Piper see reason that they were meant for each other. Surprisingly enough, neither sister had complained too much when their Whitelighter had shown up with his two companions this night. To the contrary, Piper had all but recruited them on the spot for the birthday preparations she wanted to be done as fast as possible. So, Chris helped Piper with preparing the dough – and trying not to collapse with fatigue by the way – the vampire worked together with a reluctant Leo on the decorations and Dawn had to baby-sit Wyatt so that his mother and aunts were free to bake, set the table, arrange the flowers and just generally clean out the house. All the while, the two Sunnydalers worked on getting Leo and Piper to rediscover their love for one another.

However the only thing they had accomplished so far was that everyone thought Dawn had a crush on Leo while Spike wanted to hit on Piper. Hadn't the situation been so serious, Chris was sure he wouldn't have been able to stop laughing at those hilarious ideas.

"So," he addressed the girl curiously. "What did you all laugh about?"

"Well... It seems that this little imp here spoiled all of his mother's recent dates by scaring them off with glowing eyes when Piper wasn't looking!" Dawn answered him with a smirk.

That revelation did make him laugh, however. It just sounded so much like something Wyatt would do. "Really? Way to go, Wy!"

Looking at the girl with his brother on her hips, he wondered briefly why Piper had allowed Dawn to get near her baby boy at all. Of course, it was really hard not to like and trust the teen and since Wyatt didn't have his shield up around her, his mother obviously believed her safe enough for now.

Dawn left him after a few more minutes of comfortable banter, and Chris continued to put small portions of dough on the batches until he heard another familiar voice speaking from the doorway.

"Well, it seems like growing up with Piper as your mother really does teach you a few tricks in the kitchen department."

Rather focusing on the cookies than really thinking about his reply, Chris answered distractedly: "Yeah, you could say that."

Realizing just what it was he had given away so casually, the half-breed instantly froze. Finally turning around in trepidation, Chris saw the tall form of his grandfather standing in the kitchen, leaning against the closed door for support.

Tbc

A/N: I know, I'm late. I had to finish an Excel-worksheet for school which is due tomorrow. Do you know how frustrating it is if you don't know what the hell you did wrong, because you did exactly the same thing as the first time and it just doesn't work anymore? Someday I'm going to kill Microsoft, honestly.

So, don't be surprised if there are more mistakes than usual in this chapter, because I wrote most of it with a headache and a running nose. Damn flu!

Beginning's from 'Tough enough' by Vanilla Ninja for anyone who cares ;)

Well then, on to the revs:

mewer44444: Thanks! Yeah, I wriggled myself out of that situation, didn' I:) I'll see about that other story...

phoebe turner: Sorry, it was even later this time... But unfortunately school has to come first. You haven't got an email, so I'll just say thanks here for your rev on Journey's End. But sorry, it was a one-shot basically. There might be a sequel some time in the future- once I finished with this one...

redfox88: Thanks! Hope you liked this chapter as well. There are not too much btvs-references in here I think, so you should be fine :)

Lonnie: You'll have toI'm afraidbecause I don't have the time to write longer chapters... :(

Sallywags: Thaanks! I'll try :)

YoshimiWolfspaw: Thanks! And there really was no hint, I just thought I was obvious... well, you know now, though, don't you ;) And thanks as well for your rev on Journey's End!

Bunny Moon: I wanted to thank you via email, but somehow they wouldn't let me see your address... Anyway, thanks! Do you speak German? Since you know Soehne Mannheims...

Ok, then, that's it for today.

See ya all :)

P.S.: I made a few changes on the chapter. Really just a one or two things I forgot... like I said, I was ill ;)


	9. Plan B

Title: A Whitelighter's Priority 

Author: rachelAbendstern

Summary: Chris' talk with VIctor :) and a bit more...

Spoilers: Season 6 Charmed; I forgot to mention BtVS last chapter, 'The Gift'

Disclaimer: Neither Buffy nor Charmed is mine, and I don't make any money with it. Lily though belongs to me XP

9. Plan B

_Wenn die Zeit es zeigt wird man sehen, ob wir die richtigen Wege gehen.  
Die Überlebenszeit ist jetzt, denn die Messer sind gewetzt.  
Der Schwätzer hat geschwätzt. Die Kampagne hat gehetzt.  
Die Regeln sind verletzt. Überlebenszeit ist jetzt._

_Kümmer dich um dein Leben und dann kümmer dich um uns!  
Die Schäden können wir beheben. Das ist nicht die Kunst.  
Wir müssen was bewegen, sonst bewegt sich nichts.  
Es geht nicht nur um dein Leben, sondern ob es ein Leben ist. _

'Was insanity contagious?', Piper wondered while she looked askance at the vampire beside her. It certainly seemed like it, and Chris had been the first one to be infected. Or why else would she have a frigging demon hitting on her right now.

It was fascinating in a way. The vamp didn't look half bad and was even charming in his own rude arrogant way. And how bad did she need a love life again if she even began to think of a _vampire_ of all people as a possible suitor?

Anyways, insanity. It had all started with Chris brewing some kind of potion last week that was supposed to make the three of them immune to the mental powers of the demon they were hunting that day. Well, instead of doing whatever that potion was _supposed_ to be doing, their young Whitelighter had had a hard time at trying to stop her and her sisters from eating him alive with the sudden passion that burned them up after drinking said potion.

Piper actually believed him this time when he told them afterwards that he had no idea whatsoever what had gone wrong. The expression on his face when they had closed in on him, their eyes burning with desire, was enough to get a laugh out of her for weeks. He had looked genuinely freaked out when Phoebe had managed to get her arms around him and demanded a kiss.

While she couldn't decide whether or not to be insulted by his reaction – hey, even if she didn't want him, he could at least have pretended she still held a certain sex-appeal for men – she had been relieved beyond imagination when the effects of the potion finally had worn off after half an hour. This experience had _certainly_ taught her not to leave the potions work to their young Whitelighter.

Beginning with that incident, the week had been the essence of insanity in her mind. Chris had been acting plain weird after that potions accident – well more so than usual. What truly troubled her about it however was that she seemed to get stuck in the strangest situations together with her ex-husband. It wouldn't have been so bad if she hadn't been constantly reminded of what she didn't have anymore – and that at a time when she had thought to finally be able to move on.

"William!" she eventually ground out. There was absolutely no way whatsoever she would call anyone by that other reference, especially after she had learned how exactly he had come by the name of 'Spike'.

"You are _not_ hitting on me, are you?"

"Oi!" the demon sounded genuinely indignant. "You sound like my poof of a sire with that tone of voice!"

"Should I be insulted?" Piper menacingly held up her hands. Not that she really had the intention of blowing him up – at least not because of his current strange but nevertheless harmless behaviour – but the momentary look of stunned shock on this century old creature was too good to miss.

"Probably not..."

The witch allowed herself a satisfied smirk at his response and – just for good measure – patted him patronisingly on his bleached hair.

"Good boy!"

Despite the low growl and twitching eyes, Piper thought she caught a similar smirk on his face before he stepped back again, handing the last of the streamers up to an impatiently waiting Leo, who glared down at them from his perch on the ladder.

She had to admit she could understand why Chris seemed to like the odd vampire.

And on the bright side of his peculiar advances, there was a jealous Leo. As much as she understood why Leo had had to go and even if she had learned to live without him by now, it was nice to be the centre of her former Whitelighter's attention again. Perhaps he would stay around more often if...

No, Piper immediately chastised herself. If she couldn't have him, it would be too painful for her to have him around even more often, as last week had proved abundantly.

But loath as she was to admit it, she didn't like Dawn's obvious crush on Leo either. It grated on her nerves to hear the girl constantly mooning over her ex-husband. Dawn didn't stand a chance, she was much too young and Piper knew that, but she couldn't help but resent another woman obsessing over her former Whitelighter. And how pathetic was it that she was jealous of a teenage girl!

It only proved her point though: this week had been insane!

Well, it was time to see how her cookies were faring. The ex-chef had to begrudgingly admit that Chris did have a hand at that kind of work. And she should probably save him from her father while she was at it. Her old man was not known for his fondness of Whitelighters – not that she could blame him – and she thought she had seen him walking into the kitchen a while back.

666

WOW! Jesus _frigging_ Christ!

Victor was so stunned he had to lean back against the door to keep his knees from buckling while the boy turned around, looking for all the world like a trapped feline ready to jump or strike, whatever would bring him out of harm's way.

He had seen the resemblance, the Halliwell blood in this boy the instance he had looked into his face. And back in the living room his girls had told him everything that had taken place in the last few months; from some kind of ancient gods trying to destroy the world, to Chris arriving out of the blue to help them, Leo becoming an Elder (thus having even less time for his own damn family), Piper's and Leo's split up (the best thing his daughter could ever have done in his opinion), Chris becoming their new Whitelighter, their distrust in the boy's intentions (and how in hell did that British punk manage to sound like an angry wolf on that occasion!).

The man had put two and two together then and what he came up with didn't really put his girls into such a shining light. If the boy really was who Victor suspected him to be, then he deserved to be treated one hell of a lot better by the sisters and Leo. His own family for god's sake! Couldn't they see that? Even if they were oblivious to the physical resemblance, who better to go back through time than family to do what he came here to do? Who else would know enough about them to even remotely be able to handle them?

When Victor saw the boy standing in the kitchen working on a batch of chocolate chip cookies, his last doubts had vanished. He just looked too much like Piper at this moment not to be her son. Given Chris' obvious refusal to tell his family the truth however, Victor had decided to catch him off-guard then.

But _knowing_ this strange young man was your daughter's future son and him _admitting_ to it were two different things altogether.

Taking a deep breath to get his whirling emotions under control, the man took a step away from the door and forward to his grandson – his _grandson_ for god's sake! - watching the young man in front of him with intent interest.

"So," he asked, unable to keep his voice completely steady, "are you Wyatt in disguise or are you his – unborn – younger brother?"

"I'm not Wyatt!" Whoa, why the sudden malice?

The boy seemed to be shocked himself at his own words. Pushing away from the counter he had been leaning on and raking his hands through his hair, he apologized in a softer voice: "Sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just..."

"I caught you off-guard." Victor finished the sentence for him, somewhat sorry himself for putting the boy on the spot.

"Very!" Chris laughed a nervous laugh while watching him through the strands of dark hair which kept falling into his eyes. The older man had the sudden unreasonable urge to put a comb to the mop of brown hair.

"I should have known, really," the boy remarked with a crooked smile. "You were always able to figure me out. So, what gave me away?"

Sitting down on a chair, propping his head on his hands which he had placed on the table, Victor observed the young man curiously. He still couldn't get over the fact that his grandson was standing in front of him, a grandson that hadn't even been _born_ yet for that matter!

"A few things actually," he finally answered. "You look so much like Piper." Ignoring the snort that followed that proclamation for the moment he continued, "And your reaction to your mother's words when she came to greet me. When the girls told me that you were from the future... not that I want to think too much about _that_ fact... I just had to put two and two together."

Chris gave him a somewhat sad smile. Wracking his head in order to find some sort of comforting words, Victor wondered helplessly what kind of comfort he could give a kid whose family treated him like an outsider because they didn't even know his identity.

The moment was disrupted by the stop-watch however and Chris stooped quickly to get another batch of cookies out of the oven, instantly replacing it by the one he had prepared when Victor had found him. He really was his mother's son, the man noted wryly amused.

After the shock of his discovery had died down, curiosity claimed him with a vengeance. Perhaps, the boy would answer his questions now that he was found out.

"So, when will you be born? Is Leo your father? Well he must be considering you have this Whitelighter orbing and all. Why did you come here? What could be dangerous enough that the girls couldn't take care of any other way? Or... wait, don't tell me they died, did they?" The last thought came unbidden and sent a cold shiver down his spine. It would make sense knowing Chris' story – or the part of it that was obvious at any rate – but Victor really didn't want to think about that.

His grandson – his _grandson_; would he ever get over that? - looked slightly overwhelmed at his rush of words at first, but then grimaced, clearly torn between what he wanted to do and what he knew was the right thing to do. Victor knew then and there that his questions wouldn't be answered, and he completely understood Piper's frustration now. But unlike his daughter, he saw that it wasn't exactly easy on Chris to keep his secrets.

"I can't tell you." He heard the boy's strained voice.

"Future consequences..." Victor intoned together with him. At Chris' surprised look, he explained. "Piper was whining about it. And Phoebe and Paige. Even Leo seemed a bit frustrated."

Watching the boy seriously, he asked the one question that had him bothered ever since he realized that the sisters didn't know about their Whitelighter's relationship to them. "Why don't you tell them, Chris? They would believe you a lot easier if they knew your identity."

To his surprise, the half-breed snorted derisively. "Yeah! As if they would believe that in the first place!" Sighing, not looking at his grandfather, he crossed his arms over his chest in a gesture of defence. "Besides, I wouldn't trust myself to do what I have to do if they knew."

"Do what?" Victor asked confused.

The boy squirmed a bit under his gaze before replying. "Go back to the future after all this is over."

Somehow, Victor knew this answer was only part of the truth, but he decided to let it go for now. Having heard the girls whine, Chris wasn't likely to answer him anyway.

"Will you tell them?" Chris' voice sounded surprisingly small.

"No," his grandfather replied sternly. "That is your job!" Like hell he would be the centre of one of Piper's temper tantrums!

"Thanks."

Heaving a sigh Victor dared to ask one more question. "Can you at least tell me, if we're close in the future?"

Unexpectedly, a huge smile lit up the young man's features. "Yeah, you're awesome, grandpa!"

Unexpected indeed, in more ways than one; but it definitely warmed an old man's heart to be called grandpa with such unfeigned enthusiasm.

666

Opening the door to the kitchen, fearing for the worst, Piper called almost overly cheerful: "How are my cookies?"

To her great surprise it didn't appear as if Chris needed saving. The two men were sitting companionable at the kitchen table obviously in the middle of a conversation and had looked up startled when she had entered. Huh. What could possibly be the reason that her father acted polite – more than polite it seemed – around this particular Whitelighter when she and her sisters had told him only minutes ago that none of them really knew whether or not to trust him?  
"Well, they are not eaten yet..." Her father answered her with a longing gaze on the counter, where the cookies were cooling down.

The witch saw the small amused smile tugging on Chris' lips and turned to him somewhat amazed. "You're still alive after talking to my father? Wow. He's still hardly able to act civil around Leo, let alone like him!"

That said, she could witness Chris' whole demeanour changing. In a matter of seconds, the small smile was wiped off his lips and his brows furrowed over now familiar guarded green eyes. Leaning back in his chair, he scolded her: "You don't need to sound so disappointed, you know."

Piper could tell he was about to walk out of the room like he always did if he wanted to avoid confrontation – which conveniently enough always only happened when the Charmed One thought she was about to learn something about the mysterious young man – when he pushed back from the table and stood up. He didn't get far though, because as soon as he stood upright, all colour drained from his face all of a sudden and he swayed dangerously on his two feet. Both the woman and her father were at his side in an instance, preventing him from collapsing to the floor.

Dimly, Piper recalled her sisters telling her that Chris had seemed unwell this whole week but only now did she notice herself how bad the boy looked. He was white as a sheet at the moment which only pronounced the dark circles under his eyes even more. Falling into mother-hen-mode despite herself, the witch felt his forehead with a concerned frown on her face. Chris had broken out into a cold sweat.

"Chris?" Piper asked him even as her father forced the young man to sit down again. "What's wrong?" Could Whitelighters even get ill? Leo certainly never had, unless there had been an unnatural reason...

"I'm fine!" And could _that boy_ get any more stubborn? Here he was, his head leaning on the table, only barely keeping the shaking of his body in check, all the while claiming he was alright! What did he think!

"Yeah, right..." she commented, sarcasm dripping from her every word. She could not help but be concerned.

Turning his head slightly on the table, he cast her a weary look. "I just didn't get enough sleep lately. Honestly, I'm only tired."

She almost believed him. Almost. There was something in the way his eyes wouldn't completely meet hers that made her believe there was more to his momentary weakness than he let on. But she decided to let him go for now, knowing his stubbornness nearly matched her own in fervour.

Exchanging a doubtful but resigned glance with her father, she gave in. "Fine. But then maybe you should take Dawn and William back to Sunnydale and finally get some of that sleep. You won't help anyone if you drop dead from exhaustion."

Silently nodding in agreement, Chris got up, more carefully this time and made his way into the living room while Victor asked: "William? You mean that eccentric young man who kept flirting with you?"

They heard a snort in front of them and Chris' usual sardonic voice told her father: "I doubt you're even half his age!"

Confused but clearly suspicious, the older man looked back and forth between his daughter and her Whitelighter, narrowing his eyes on Piper. "What?"

Oh dear. The woman had absolutely no idea how to break to her father that a vampire had helped with the preparations of the birthday party of his only grandson; and a pretty good idea as to what he was likely to say once he found out...

666

For the first time in weeks, Chris didn't actually feel all that guilty over letting himself relax for once.

Lying on the living room couch in the Summers house – he had abandoned sleeping at the club altogether long ago – Chris replayed the events of this night in his mind. He really _was_ drop-dead-tired, but he was still too worked up to actually be able to rest.

Facing his grandpa in the kitchen, the witch hadn't known what to feel when the older man had busted him. He had been aware of the fact that Victor had seen some family resemblance in him, but never would he have thought that his grandfather, who wanted magic to be as small a part in his life as possible, would connect all dots in the picture and confront him about his heritage.

But like he already had said, he really should have known better. After all, he knew his grandpa well enough by now, and even though this man wasn't exactly the grandfather he knew yet, the man didn't lack intelligence.

Despite his fear to change things that weren't supposed to be changing he was kind of glad the man knew the truth. He had missed talking to him. It had been one of the few things that had kept him sane after his mother's death. His father had been too caught up in his own grief to even give the remotest bit of comfort to his two sons and after they all had regained some semblance of normality in their lives, the Elder had continued to do what he had done before the Event – favouring Wyatt and ignoring Chris' very existence most of the time. The talks with his grandpa had been his anchor to reality in a time where the very foundations of his whole world had been shaken. The old man had listened to his rants, dried his tears, bore the brunt of his anger, had talked to him or had kept him silent company, whatever Chris had needed the most in the various situations. He had simply been there for him.

By the time Wyatt was well on his way to become the most dangerous being in their world, Victor was in and out of hospital with lung cancer. It had hurt Chris in his soul to see his strong grandfather wasting away like that and he had tried to keep his knowledge secret that the man's eldest grandson was the reason the city was slowly falling into ruins. But Victor had seen right through Chris and demanded to tell him the truth. Unlike the half-breed's own father, Victor was not too blinded by his love for his grandson to acknowledge the harsh facts even though it pained him.

It had been Victor who first had come up with the idea that something had managed to screw with his brother's mind when he had been abducted as a kid. When the resistance that had formed around an unwilling Chris had grown more and more desperate, it had been only a small step from there to him being send back in time to prevent that from happening. By the time Bianca and he had formed a plan to get a hold of the Book of Shadows and open a portal – with Chris keeping his powers once he was in the past – his grandfather didn't have much time left.

Thus, seeing him standing in his full strength and health again, being able to talk to him without having to pretend he didn't know his grandpa, Chris couldn't help but feel happy. And unlike the sisters and Leo, his grandpa didn't push when his grandson told him he couldn't speak about something. He was not exactly pleased about the secrecy either, but he had tried to work his way around the sensitive issues when they had talked in the kitchen before Piper had interrupted them.

Smirking, Chris remembered his mother's surprise when she had found her father and Whitelighter peacefully sitting around the kitchen table. Knowing his grandfather's dislike for Whitelighters, Piper had probably anticipated the kitchen to be a battlefield by the time she had arrived.

As for Piper and Leo... well, he would just have to wait and hope for the best. Surprisingly enough, Dawn's and Spike's little scheme seemed to have taken some kind of effect. He was pretty sure the two menaces didn't mean to make his parents jealous but, knowing his parents, it was likely to have more influence on their actions than anything else they might have done. Chris just hoped it would be enough for him to still be alive come tomorrow night.

666

It was afternoon on the next day by the time Dawn finally came home from school. Today of all days she had to have afternoon classes! She hadn't been able to sit still all day, always on edge until one of her friends had finally snapped at her and demanded to know what the hell was wrong with her. Since she couldn't exactly tell her that one of her friends might very well die tonight, she tried to reign in her anxiety from then on. But she had been waiting every minute of that day for the final bell to ring! Not knowing whether or not they had succeeded in bringing Piper and Leo back together drove her crazy.

In a way, the girl thought wryly, Chris was lucky that she had to go to school instead of staying at home, worrying about him and fussing over him every minute until they knew he was safe.

The young nephalim had still been sleeping when she had left for today and she hadn't had the heart to wake him. He had looked terrible last night when they had left Halliwell manor. So, entering the house, she checked the living room first thing but didn't see him there. Thinking he might have orbed to San Francisco again, the girl sighed in worried irritation and made her way over to the kitchen. There was no way she could eat anything while she was so keyed up but she rather waited in the kitchen than anywhere else and she could really use a glass of orange juice now – or some of that booze Spike liked to drink; not that anyone would approve of that.

All feelings of uncertain impatience dissipated however as she saw her witch-friend slouched over the counter in the kitchen.

"Chris?" Dawn asked hesitantly, taking a halting step forward, already fearing the worst. Tentative relief rose in her though when she saw his head moving slightly.

"Dawn?" she heard him whisper.

After that she was at his side in a second, kneeling down next to him and asking: "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for the room to stop spinning."

Dawn almost grinned in relief when she heard the dry humour in his words. If he still was able to joke, there was still hope left. Well, if he was dizzy, it would be best if he would lay down again, the girl decided. So she got up and grabbed him by his arm. "Let's get you back to living room."

At that, Chris turned his head slightly to look up at her. "No, Dawn," he objected to her surprise with quiet amusement. "I'm too heavy for you."

"Yeah, right," Dawn snorted. "You're but skin and bones." And he was. The previous days had taken their toll on the young witch, a fact that both Dawn and Spike had noted earlier this week with growing concern.

"Come on," she tugged on his sleeve, "If you'll just lean on me, we'll be fine."

666

Peeking through the door into the murky, mouldy room behind Dawn tried to tell if the vampire who lived in this crypt was awake at this time of day. Seeing no sign of Spike up there she quickly made her way into the lower level where the blonde had his bed, couch and television, hoping he was as restless as she had been and awake. She really didn't need the experience of waking him if he still was asleep. Spike had a habit to sleep nude, a fact that she had found out the hard way once and she really didn't want a repeat performance. Not that he looked bad, on the contrary. But she hadn't been able to look at him without blushing furiously for over a week.

The reason she was even here now was her anxiety for their young Whitelighter. She had managed to get him into the living room earlier, swaying and stumbling, but they had managed. But Chris' sudden weakness had her more than a little worried and she had decided not to rely on the hope anymore that their little scheme had worked. It was time for 'Plan B'. Dawn only hoped Spike had a 'Plan B'.

666

"Spike?"

The familiar voice of his nibblet woke him out of the light doze he had fallen into about an hour ago. Rubbing his eyes with his hands, the vampire stretched his sore muscles before turning around to face the girl. Even for the undead, falling asleep half slumped over the arm of a couch wasn't precisely a comfortable position. Since he had been sure not to get any sleep today, he had opted for the television and trying to shove away his anxiety by watching some of the soaps they were showing at this time of day. Not that he actually was anxious. No, not at all!

"What's up, nibblet?"

"Are you dressed?"

That question brought an evil smirk onto his features. Not too long ago, the teen had walked in on him as he was just about to get out of bed and dress. The girl had wheeled around on her heels, blushing and stammering apologies. It had been hilarious in his point of view.

But then the smirk vanished slowly as he thought about what could bring her here today.

"I am," he replied and watched her climbing down the stairs. "What's up?"

"Chris," the little bit answered shortly. His mind reeling with the possible implications, he growled impatiently at her.

"What's wrong with him?"

Having spent quite some time with the impatient vampire, the teen wasn't easily intimidated by his demeanour, so her voice was calm as she told him: "I don't know. Maybe it's nothing, but... I just think we should have done something more to help him. What if it didn't work? We might have managed to make them jealous, but that's hardly enough to be sure they are going to screw tonight."

She was right and he knew it. That was why he wasn't able sleep today after all. Taking a few moments to go through the options left, he decided to try something Chris himself had failed at.

"Are the witches home yet?" He asked the girl who sat on the back of his couch.

"They should be by now. Why?"

Good. The boy might not have been able to put his parents under a spell, but if the vampire remembered correctly, there was that little personal gain clause good witches had to pay heed to. The Sunnyhell witches would be doing the spell for another not for themselves.

"Because we won't take any chances anymore!" He got up and dragged her after him by her wrist. "Come on, let's go!"

666

Willow was watching as her lover covered their sleeping Whitelighter with a blanket. She had to admit now that Tara had been right about something being wrong with him. Chris looked like hell. They had come back from university only to find the young half-breed sleeping on their couch once again; which wouldn't really have been unusual if it hadn't been bright day light.

If only they knew what the problem was, maybe they were able to help him. The witch had grown rather fond of him, even if he was a little bit more than neurotic at times. But hey, they all had their quirks especially her little group of friends. And even if the sisters really _were_ his first priority, he had never let them down so far. Considering he had all but moved into the house with them she thought it was safe to say that he liked them as well. Hell, even Spike had a soft spot for him almost as big as the one the vamp had for Dawn.

Hearing loud swearing coming from the entrance door, Willow turned around to see Dawn patting out smoking spots on afore mentioned vampire's back. Spike himself had thrown the blanket he had been covered with to escape direct sunlight onto the floor, stomping with his feet on the smouldering rug while mumbling something like 'bloody hell' and 'soddin' sunlight'. That was just so like Spike, the witch thought with an amused smile on her face.

"Spike! What are you doing here?" She asked him curiously. "It's not even dusk yet."

"I need a love spell!" He answered matter of fact.

"What!" The vampire didn't really mean that, did he? Noticing his completely serious face, Willow shook her head vigorously. "Oh no. No, no, no. No more love spells for you, mister!" She vividly remembered a former demand like that and its outcome.

Marking the confusion on both Dawn's and Tara's faces – who had come to stand beside her – she made to explain: "He once wanted me to do a love spell when Dru dumped him..."

"No time for that, witch," Spike interrupted her with a low growl. Obviously the Drusilla-issue still stung. "Besides it's not for myself!"

Now that made her curious. Who did he want a love spell for if not himself?

Listening to Dawn and Spike explain the situation in Halliwell manor she had the sudden urge to bang her head against the wall or strangle both the vampire and the teen – none of which probably were particularly healthy.

Why had they not come to Tara and her for help at once? That's what friends were there for after all and it was not like they didn't have the _means_ to help!

Giving both of them an evil glare and a promise of later demise satisfied her at least a little bit especially since Tara did exactly the same thing.

Coming up with an appropriate spell thereafter was not much of a problem.

So, lighting the candles and incense a little while later, the two witches intoned:

_"Passion lost shall once more be won  
To save the life of a future son.  
Let Piper's and Leo's love shine alight  
For their child must be conceived tonight!"_

Now all they had to do was wait...

tbc

A/N: I was invited on a birthday yesterday and I completely forgot! Well, at least I managed to get a present in time…

Anyways, I handled the whole possibly-not-being-conceived-effects a little different, I know. That whole disappearing thing just didn't sit well with me. I more or less understand it this first time in "Courtship…" but in "Bad bad World" it's just plain weird. I mean, even if he was from the future, Chris was a living person, he was flesh and blood, so time-traveller or no, there should have been a corpse, especially since it wasn't the 'possibility' of this Chris was killed but future Chris himself, if you know what I mean. Not that he should have died in the first place…

Enough ramble, on to the reviews:

phoebe turner: Thanks! And it was about the same size, I checked ;)

YoshimiWolfspaw: Thanks to you too! I will try :)

mewer44444: I would love to email you (not that I have that other story yet, although I have something in mind) but I need a complete email adress to do that… It broke up after the in your review :( But anyways, thanks:)

redfox88: Did you recognize your idea? I didn't think about the jealousy-factor until you mentioned it, so a huge thanks! Chris getting a break? You don't know me… :) Although I guess he deserved one lol

Lonnie: …well yeah, I guess you do :)

Sallywags: Well there you go lol

hope master: Thanx!

Oh, here's the translation for the beginning, 'Dein Leben' by 'Soehne Mannheims':

_When time will tell, we will see if we are going down the right paths.  
__Survival time is now, because the knives are already sharpened.  
__The babbler has ranted, the campaign has harassed.  
__The rules are broken. Survival time is now._

_Take care of your life first and then take care of us!  
__We can repair the damage. That's not the problem.  
__We have to move something or else nothing will move.  
__It's not only about your life but if it is a life at all.  
_


	10. Aftermath

Title: A Whitelighter's Priority

Author: rachelAbendstern

Summary: Another peek into Chris' past...

Spoilers: Season 6 Charmed; I forgot to mention BtVS last chapter, 'The Gift'

Disclaimer: Neither Buffy nor Charmed is mine, and I don't make any money with it. Lily though belongs to me XP  


10. Aftermath

_After all of the fights and the lies  
Yes you wanted to harm me but that won't work anymore  
No more, it's over  
'Cause if it wasn't for all of your torture  
I wouldn't know how to be this way now, and never back down  
So I wanna say thank you_

_How could he have been so stupid? He should have known better by now! But nevertheless he had walked right into the trap Wyatt had set out for him! Stupid, stupid, stupid!_

_And to think that Leo had been the bait... all that after Chris had sworn to himself that he didn't care about the man anymore. He honestly wanted to kick his own ass for this nice piece of work._

_Trying to gain a bit more freedom, Chris moved his hands carefully, wincing as the shackles bit into his already sore wrists and the movement painfully stretched the barely healed skin on his back._

_The boy didn't know how long he had been here. It could have been a few days; it could have been a few weeks. He had lost track of time after the first few hours that Wyatt's personal dungeon's master had spent with him. His brother had been very clear about his wish that Chris was to stay alive. Broken if necessary, but alive. He wanted his little brother at his side, not dead. Though why Wyatt was so adamant about him returning to his side, Chris didn't know. Mere brotherly love didn't seem to cut it, he thought bitterly as he glared at the painful bonds. He wasn't even able to use his powers since Wyatt had put a spell on them and an anti-orbing-shield around his little prison cell._

_As if any Whitelighter or Elder would actually bother to try saving him. It was not as if they ever had approved of Piper's children with an Elder. What the hell did they care if those children now fought a feud? They should though, Chris mused resentfully. If not because of him then because Wyatt was well on his way to be the Source of all Evil – a more powerful, more dangerous Source than Cole ever had been, since the Twice-Blessed would not stop once the Underworld was under his total control. He was not able to stop._

_Chris knew his brother almost better than he liked and he was well aware of the fact that the Twice-Blessed was never satisfied with what he had; he always had to have more. More powers, more authority, more minions, just more... Even as children, Wyatt always strived to be the leader, the better one of them. Their parents never noticed or if they did, they would blame it on adolescence or brotherly competition or something like that. Chris himself didn't think too much about it as well then. It was just the way his brother was; until Wyatt started doing things he wasn't supposed to be doing. Taking his little brother with him into the Underworld, vanquishing demons with a vengence with the help of Excalibur and his witch powers when Chris was twelve years old for instance. The younger witch-Whitelighter had already seen a hint of the cruelty then that he showed now. But even then, Chris believed in his brother. He was the older one, he had to know better than him, right? Right, Chris snorted over his own naivety._

_It wasn't until after their mother had been killed that those traits had manifested themselves in Wyatt permanently though. At first, Chris had thought that Wyatt's more and more violent behaviour was due to the grief he himself had almost surrendered to. But after he had killed his first innocent Chris couldn't go on pretending he didn't see._

_Not that anyone had believed him when he had tried to speak to his seniors. Their aunts finally witnessed one of Wyatt's crimes with their own eyes and consequently tried to bind his powers. But without the Power of Three this plan had been doomed from the beginning. Instead of stripping their nephew's powers, their own powers had been stripped and when another one of the quickly increasing demon attacks had hit them, they had been powerless. Chris had not been there when it happened, but unfortunately he could imagine it vividly enough._

_Leo of course had been blind even then. What was more, because of that damn shield the boy wasn't able to call for his father to make him see reason at least now – and possibly help his younger son get away from here._

_He was so utterly helpless. No wonder he had never been good enough for his parents... Shaking his head angrily, he tried to get rid of the desperation and depression he saw himself falling into. The situation was getting to him but he could not afford to dwell on these feelings, not right now. If he gave in to the hopelessness that was suffocating this whole place, Wyatt would have won; and the time Wyatt won was the time there really was no hope left for this world._

_The sound of the door creaking open brought back memories of fire, of ice water and whips and he flinched involuntarily when footsteps approached the small corner where he was crouched against the wall. Squinting against the bright light that fell through the door Chris didn't really believe what his eyes told him._

_"Dear god, Chris!"_

_Bianca's shocked voice managed to convince him that he hadn't gone off the deep end yet when he had seen her silhouette in the doorframe. The only question was: why was she here? If Wyatt ever found out she was helping him, she would have hell to pay. His empathy told him that she wasn't here to cause him any more harm; worry poured off her in waves. Huh. He had to look worse than he thought._

_Kneeling down beside him, putting her hand on his forehead she exclaimed: "You're burning up. We have to get you out of here!"_

_Wanting to speak, Chris found that his sore throat didn't work the way he wanted it to. After several attempts he managed to rasp out: "What are you doing here, Bianca? You'll get yourself into trouble!"_

_The woman was already working on his shackles as she answered: "Your grandfather told me that you were supposed to meet with him five days ago and didn't show up." Oh yes. Unlike Leo, his grandfather actually trusted his judgement about the Phoenix. Not that he had had much of a chance to turn down his grandson when he had shown up at his doorstep all those months ago with a wounded woman in tow and bleeding from several injuries himself. Since then, the two adults had formed a curious kind of friendship despite all their differences._

_"And Wyatt couldn't stop bragging that he would have his little brother back soon," Bianca continued her explanation. "It didn't take a genius to imagine what happened."_

_Hauling him up on his feet with surprising strength, the witch held him steady when his knees threatened to give out._

_"He'll kill you if he finds out!" he reminded her again. But his own survival instinct was too strong at the moment to actually decline her help. His sense for bravery had been literally drowned days ago; he was just glad to finally get out of here before he really did break, even if he was worried about her._

_"I can take care of myself, Chris!"_

_There was something she was not telling him, the boy saw it by the way her lips tightened and her eyes hardened while they staggered towards the door. Remembering what had lured him out of his hide out in the first place, Chris suddenly felt a cold hand grip his heart._

_"Bianca? Where's my father?"_

666

Slowly awakening from an uneasy sleep, Chris remained in the realm of semi-consciousness a few minutes longer, not wanting to wake just yet but not wanting to dwell on that particular memory either.

He had found out about his father's death then the young man recalled with mixed feelings.

Learning from an enraged Phoenix witch that his blindness had put his youngest son in mortal danger and helped his eldest son fulfil his dark intentions apparently had made Leo finally see the truth for what it was. According to Bianca his father had tried to make up for his mistake by helping the Phoenix to get his son out of the dungeons; but Wyatt had put Darklighters on duty just on that day. Bianca had refused to tell him more than that, but it had been enough. For what it was worth, the boy at least knew that he had mattered to his father after all. Instead of easing his messed up emotions it only made him feel guiltier however.

Ironically, they had learned a few days later on that that exact day, the day when Chris had lost his father for good, had been the day Wyatt had gone 'up there' – to destroy what was left of the council, leaving the remaining Whitelighters scattered, leaderless and apparently unable to take care of their charges anymore. A mere handful of them had remained on earth with the witches they had been assigned to. The other less brave survivors had sought shelter in places where Wyatt's arm hadn't been able to yet reach them. Places like Valhalla.

Bianca had taken him to his grandpa after their luckily eventless escape, not leaving his side for the next couple of days. Whatever relationship they had had before that incident, had deepened while he had been healing both physically and emotionally under her care. In fact, it had not taken long after his recuperation that they had taken that final step from friends to lovers.

Victor had not been too pleased with the development seeing as Bianca was almost five years older than him and Chris had only just hit seventeen at the time. But the older man had seen it coming even though neither Chris nor Bianca had and there really had not been much he could have done about it. Besides, he had told them afterwards, in the desolate times they lived in, if it stopped two souls from being lonely, then where was the harm?

What had driven them together at first really had been the fear of loneliness, Chris realized that now; but that had changed over the months. And then they had found out Bianca was pregnant. God, to say he had been scared would be something of a bad joke. He had been terrified. He was too young, that thought had clouded his mind for days; that and he didn't want to be the kind of father Leo had been to him. How could they have been so stupid to risk creating a new life in times like these when words like innocence and safety didn't exist anymore and every weak, helpless being was doomed from the very beginning? Not one time though did any of them consider not having the child at all.

And he wouldn't have it any other way, Chris thought with a small smile on his face. True, it had been difficult to hide the pregnancy from Wyatt since Bianca was still part of his inner circle and the first few months with their baby daughter had been exhausting and unfamiliar to say the least, but they had managed and gladly so. What was being part witch good for if you weren't able to cast a few glamour charms, after all?

Lily had been a late birthday present for him. He had been eighteen for one week when his lover had gone into labour. From the first moment on the little girl had become her parents' sunshine. Despite all their fears, the sweet little baby-girl had been – and still was – a ray of hope in a world fallen into darkness; she was her parents' personal reason to keep fighting, to not lose hope and go on despite all obstacles placed in their way. Chris missed both of his two girls so bad...

"Someone's thinking happy thoughts!" The cranky voice startled him out of his memories and he quickly opened his eyes to see a decidedly grouchy looking vampire looming over him.

Trying to come up with some kind of coherent reason why yellow eyes stared at him now, his mind only sluggishly supplied him with the memory of the past two days. Oh, yeah. Piper and Leo had to screw before midnight for him to come into existence. Although there was sunlight filtering through the blinds of the windows and he was sure he had slept for at least a few hours, meaning it was already morning the next day, meaning...

"Seems like you're still stuck with me, huh?" A huge weight lifted of his shoulders at the sudden realisation. He was still alive! Had it not been for the still yellow eyes and his remaining sense of dignity, Chris would have been tempted to attack Spike with a huge bear-hug.

The vampire's grouchy look was quickly replaced however with a worryingly smug expression when Spike withdrew to let Chris sit up on the couch.

He wasn't halfway up when suddenly he was assaulted by a heavy pillow hitting him sharply on the head. Completely bewildered and wide-eyed, he tried to block the blows with his hands while trying to make out his attacker. _Willow_?

"You scared us half to _death_, mister!" The outraged witch accused him while delivering a final blow to his shoulders. Chris was utterly out of his depth, not knowing how to react, not even knowing what Willow was so furious over. Looking hastily to the demon for help he was greeted with the sight of a clearly amused Spike leaning back in a chair to enjoy the show. Having little other choice, he just sat there, shell-shocked and let her go at him without so much as a sound.

"You should have come to us when you knew you were in trouble!" Could it be...? Chris cast a part curious, part furious glance over at the vampire who was now opposite him.

But Spike carelessly shrugged his shoulders, explaining: "Didn't know if our plan would work, the nibblet and I. Had to tell her something why we needed a love spell for the witch and the Elder, didn't we?"

Chris just stared at him speechlessly, letting Willow's continued ranting wash over him like the tide. A love spell? But he had tried that, hadn't he? _Yeah, but you did it for your own sake_, the little voice in his head reminded him nastily.

The redhead's poking finger at his chest made it kind of hard for him to ignore her when she finished her lecture: " Don't you dare pull a stunt like that ever again, you hear me? What are friends for if you don't call us when you need us!"

Sweet little girl that she was, Willow really did frighten him once in a long while. Really.

But even as he thought that, he felt warmth spreading through him at her stern words. Indeed, what where friends for if not for that?

666

Peacefully sipping her coffee, watching the early morning sunlight paint the world in crimson Phoebe sat in the kitchen and waited for everyone to wake up. A few years back it would have been Prue sitting here waiting for her family to come down while preparing the coffee they all needed to start the day.

The Charmed One really missed her eldest sister. Right after Prue's death the feeling of loss had been so overwhelming that there had been times when she didn't think they would make it another year without following their sister. Discovering they had another sister had both helped and worsened the issue at the beginning. But Paige had proven herself a true Halliwell, even if she kept her foster parents' last name 'Mathews', and got Piper and Phoebe over their grief, sometimes without even knowing so. Still, there were these moments of melancholic remembrance that kept befalling her once in a while. With time passing though she was able to remember with a smile rather than breaking down in tears and she was glad for that.

Picturing her brisk independent sister Phoebe wondered what Prue would think of their new Whitelighter. With a smirk the witch thought she would have probably either cornered him until he would have spilled every bit there was to tell or kicked him out on his butt if he refused to cooperate.

The young man still was a riddle to her, even after over four month that he was their Whiteligher. There were times when she wanted nothing more than to kick his ass; but then there were also times when she wanted to cuddle him until that despairing look that he wore sometimes when he didn't think anyone was watching disappeared. If only she could get a reading of him, but every time she tried she was blocked by what she assumed was the same potion her sisters had taken.

Phoebe knew that they weren't really supportive of him; but how could they be if they didn't truly know what he was up to, what they all were up against? It was not as if he told them all that much of the future he supposedly came from. If they knew what it was like, maybe they would have more of a reason to actually help him. Only because of those occasional desolate looks did the witch not take a leaf out of her older sister's book and mistrust his every word. And perhaps they should help him more, she thought guiltily; Chris had looked more than exhausted two nights ago when he had entered the living room to grab Dawn and Spike to get them back to Sunnydale.

Looking up when she heard the door opening the woman saw her father entering the kitchen with still sleepy eyes.

"Daddy!" Phoebe greeted him cheerfully, happy that her old man had agreed to spending the week at the manor when normally he would have fled the line of fire as soon as possible. She knew how he resented the mere mentioning of demons in his presence. All the more hilarious had it been to see his reaction when Piper had explained to him that the 'bleached British punk' that Chris had been about to take home was indeed a vampire. Phoebe couldn't help but smirk remembering her father's sputtering when Spike had flashed yellow eyes and wrinkles at him shortly before Chris had orbed the three of them out. That demon thoroughly enjoyed being the mischief maker, the witch noted with dry amusement.

"And what are you laughing at this early in the morning?" her father asked as he caught sight of her smirk.

"You, actually. I just had to think of how you met Spike the day before yesterday." She had to laugh again when Victor pulled a grimace while serving himself a cup of coffee.

"Don't remind me. I will never understand how you can just invite a vampire in your house and be comfortable around him. I mean, do you really trust him?"

"Trust him?" Phoebe didn't really have to contemplate that question. "No. But he's fun to hang around with!"

Her father had given her something to look up in the book or ask Chris about however. They never _had_ invited Spike into their home.

"So," The man sat down next to her at the table and watched her curiously. "Where were they anyway yesterday? Didn't you invite them?"

"By 'them' I suppose you mean Dawn, Chris and Spike. I think Wyatt's birthday party was a bit early in vampiric terms seeing the whole creature of the night thing. And Chris looked kind of like he needed a day or two off, so..."

The woman cast her father a curious glance when her empathy kicked in and made her experience his concern for the young man first hand. What could have happened between them that made him so protective of the boy?

"You know, you two sure seemed chummy that night. I thought you couldn't stand Whitelighters."

"I don't!" Her father replied almost reflexively.

"Dad..." she chuckled lightly, not knowing whether to be amused or exasperated by his stubborn resentment. The chuckle faded though when she noticed his almost guilty fidgeting and felt the distinct discomfort rolling of the man.

"Dad?" When the older man kept avoiding her eyes, Phoebe knew there was something going on. Trying to make sense of his emotions and behaviour, a sudden idea struck her.

"He told you something, didn't he? He told you about the future he came from, who he is!" The witch didn't even need her empathy to tell her she had hit the goal. Victor looked obviously torn.

"What did he tell you? _Why_ did he tell you?" This was just great! Their oh so secretive Whitelighter had talked to their father but refused to talk to them?

"Why? I guess I'm the least likely to mess something up." He sighed, rubbing his eyes with a tired hand. "And he didn't exactly tell me. I pretty much busted him."

"You busted him? With _what_? We have been trying to find something to bust him with for the past four month!" Incredulously staring, Phoebe waited for an answer that didn't come.

"Phoebe... it's not my secret to tell, I'm sorry."

"Wait what do you mean you can't tell me? I am your daughter!" Now the witch was livid! Not enough that Chris himself refused to talk, now he had even managed to get her father on his side? That was so not fair!

"You are!" Her father emphasised with surprising passion. "And I want you to be safe more than anything, you and your sisters and the rest of your little family! So I'm telling you as your father: listen to the boy, he is here to help! Even if he might not act like it, he would rather die than let anything happen to you all!"

Taken aback by the man's heartfelt intercession, the witch just sat there thinking for a few moments. "You're serious, aren't you?" She asked eventually, much calmer than before. "You're not only scared for us, you're scared for him, too."

Phoebe knew she was right even though it made absolutely no sense.

"What he told me, Phoebe... The future he came from – it's not nice. And if it's hard for him to trust you then it's because he learned not to trust easily the hard way." Her father looked at her almost pleadingly and again she wondered what had been told between the two men that made him trust Chris so unconditionally.

"He told you all that?" Her tone was slightly wistful. Somehow it saddened her that Chris was able to trust her father with all that but not his charges when it was their trust he needed the most.

But to her surprise, Victor shook his head, smiling melancholically. "No. I could read it between the lines. Call it a father's instinct if you will."

Granting him with a crooked smile, Phoebe silently agreed with him. If only she knew what she could do to make the young man trust her, trust them as well. It would be so much easier to trust _him_, if this trust went both ways.

"You really should give the boy a chance, you know?"

"I know."

They sat in silence for some time, each one lost in his own thoughts while quietly sipping their coffee until they heard the noise of doors and footsteps upstairs.

"So," Victor looked at his daughter questioningly. "What's up with Leo and Piper? I thought they split up?"

"...They did." The witch confirmed hesitatingly. "At least I thought they did."

She was quite confused herself over their weird change of behaviour yesterday evening. The witch would have guessed there was a spell at work if she had seen a _reason_ for this kind of spell. First they had acted like a couple of jealous teenagers almost all day long and then suddenly they had been all over each other. Phoebe was just glad all guests had already left at the time. She was even more glad for the empathy blocking potion later that night...

tbc

A/N: Sorry guys, there's no way I'll write Leo/Piper other than the few comments here and there. I like them, I really do, but I just wasn't up to writing them, too, at least not this week.

Yeah, on that note: I was kinda lazy this week as I'm sure you noticed. Or rather I was focusing on physics, as I'm really, really afraid of our teacher and his 'harmless' questions – which all turn out to be not so harmless in the end...

Anyway, if more of you wondered what the word 'nephalim' means: it's the child of a mortal with an angel; I heard it both in X-files and God's Army, part, so I think it's an actual word…

The beginning's from 'Fighter' by Christina Aguillera.

And now… a _lot_ of reviews :)

Talkin' of normality: Wow, thanks! Although I like quite a few Chris-centric fics around here :)… even if I don't review as much as I should ;;

mizunderstood writer: Yes they were! Bad Halliwells, bad! ;) Thanks!

phoebe turner: Let Chris die when I have so much in store for him! Who do think I am:D

redfox88: You did? Hopefully in the places where it was intended to be funny :) Sorry, this chapter didn't really answer your questions, did it? And don't hesitate to tell me your ideas. I won't promise I'll use them but it's always nice to see some different approaches, especially when my own don't really work the way I want them to :)

cold-blooded-angel: Thanks! Here it was ;)

mewer44444: You do, but who cares? ;) Certainly not me! Thanks! I got the email this time, but as you see, I didn't really email this week :(

ennui deMorte: Thanks! I just thought Piper was like Angel in some ways, I don't really know why, because they are soooo different… But oh well; this _is_ fanfiction, right?

Sallywags: Thanks! I can't help it, I love Victor!

Night-Owl123: Yeah, you could say that! **evil smirk**

rcaqua: More? I keep writing, you keep reading, deal? ;)

mel11: Thanks! That's always nice to hear:)

alienangel19852003: Thanks and no prob! As long as I know someone's reading what my twisted imagination brings up ;)

YoshimiWolfspaw: Well, I think you hate me more now, since I didn't really explain anything…:)

Stony Angel: **blush **Thanks! I know the girls are more or less only guest appearances, but actually I don't think that will change all that much now, sorry. I'll try to get a few scenes with them in though.

Mae: I know that problem. Glad, you found me again though :) Thanks!

Jane Pitchoune: I will. And you didn't really think I let Chris die now!

Lonnie: I know! I make them :) But hey, they were not really better in the show, were they?

hope master: I will! Thanks!

Serene5: Thanks! Mine too! ;) And updates will be once a week, some shorter, some longer than this one ;)

Now that's why I rather email you guys! This is almost as long as the whole chapter... Not that I'm complaining, mind you!

So did any of you catch the phrase I borrowed from another book:P

P.S.: I re-edited the chapter if anyone wonders :)


	11. Listen to your Heart

Title: A Whitelighter's Priority

Author: rachelAbendstern

Summary: Piper finds out she's pregnant. And you should probably read the 10th chapter again, at least the end because I added a whole new paragraph...

Spoilers: Season 6 Charmed; I forgot to mention BtVS last chapter, 'The Gift'

Disclaimer: Neither Buffy nor Charmed is mine, and I don't make any money with it. Lily though belongs to me XP

11. Listen to your heart

_Sometimes you wonder if this fight is worthwhile.  
The precious moments are all lost in the tide.  
They're swept away and nothing is what is seems,  
the feelings are belonging to your dreams._

Piper sat on the edge of the bathtub in her bathroom, elbows on her knees and head in hands while trying to suppress the shaking of her body.

Heaven's above, this was not happening! This couldn't be happening to her!

She had thought she and Leo had reached some sort of understanding during the past months; had thought she was finally moving on and getting her life back under control. And then she had gone and did the most stupid thing she could think of and slept with her ex-husband again! The witch didn't know what the hell had gotten into her to pull a stunt like that! True, she had been jealous, they both had been – without reason no less – but that wasn't enough of a reason for them to, to...

Worse even, after that she had gotten her hopes up that maybe, this time they could make it work even though Leo still was an Elder and had responsibilities up there when he had come to tell her that his fellow stick-in-the-ass Elders virtually forbade his visits on earth because he was endangering them all by spending time with his family, _his own freaking family_! God help her, if she had had the power, she would have gone up there to Elderland and forcibly shaken some sense into those self-righteous, arrogant, patronising old bastards! Leo belonged down here, to her, to his son, to her sisters, hell even to their infuriating Whitelighter, if only to keep Chris in line!

Piper had thought she was over these feelings of anger and pain, had thought she could be happy for Leo, but this whole situation had opened the old wound again. She _was_ happy for him; she just didn't understand why he, why they couldn't have both. Why was Leo's staying on earth endangering the other Elders? What did they do up there anyway that demanded their presence twenty-four seven?

The slowly fading anger gave way to weariness. Sighing resignedly, she looked once again on the little stick she was clutching in her right hand.

And now this. A month after their last night, she found out that she was pregnant once again. The woman would be a single mother to not only one but two magical children.

Someone up there really had to have a grudge against her.

666

She loved her sister. She really did. She could even understand her anger and frustration. But right now, Piper was grating on her last nerves.

Phoebe heavily leaned her hands on the kitchen table and lowered her head in order to take a deep breath to keep from strangling the older Halliwell who just went up into the attic. Looking up again she caught sight of Chris who was helping Paige with a newly discovered healing potion. Well, it seemed like she was not the only one who was fed up with Piper's complaints of how unfair the world was and that that night with Leo had been a horrible mistake. The young Whitelighter wore a strained expression and seemed to rather be anywhere else but here in this room with his charges.

"You knew Piper was gonna get pregnant again, didn't you?" She asked the young man with the barest hint of accusation in her tone. Startled, Chris looked up at her, halting his hand over the small cauldron until Paige slapped him lightly and he let go of the rosemary he was holding. "I mean, you didn't even try to act surprised when you found out."

Her Whitelighter sighed tiredly, answering: "I couldn't tell you, Phoebe. Besides, I wasn't even sure if I haven't already changed too much for that to actually happen."

"Fair enough, I guess."

Casting her a surprised glance, the young man continued to chop the herbs Paige was handing him. Since her father's departure, Phoebe had taken the man's advice and given Chris the benefit of the doubt at least. If his future had been what her father believed it had been she supposed she could understand his reluctance to open up to them. That didn't mean she had to like his secretiveness however. So, she would be biding her time until he slipped...

"You know, I'm actually looking forward to another baby in this house," Paige informed them suddenly, a smile lighting up her face. "I mean, remember how adorable Wyatt looked when he was so small? He still is adorable, mind you, but he has gotten so big! And now Wyatt will have someone to play with..."

Frantically shaking her head and waving her hands for Paige to stop, Phoebe tried to silence the younger witch when she heard Piper's footsteps approaching them again. She agreed with Paige whole-heartedly but she really didn't want Piper to start another rant.

"You would say that!" Too late. "I mean, you don't have to carry it around for nine month. No, _I_ have to endure morning sickness all over again, _my_ back will ache, I will have swollen feet and god! This time Leo won't be there at all!" So this was what all this was about, Phoebe understood suddenly. Her sister wanted Leo to be there if she was going to have another child but at the same time didn't want to force him to give up on his calling.

"It was all a mistake, it should never have happened! I mean, how am I supposed to take care of two magical children on my own? I cannot handle this!"

"But you're not alone, sweetie!" Paige tried to calm their sister down. Looking over at the two people working on the potion, Phoebe noticed with confusion Chris' ferocious grip on the table. His knuckles had gone white and it was almost painfully obvious that the Whitelighter was trying to avoid looking at Piper at all while Paige continued.

"You have us. Granted, we're not Leo, but you won't have to manage everything on your own."

"I wouldn't have to manage anything if he hadn't gotten me pregnant. I didn't want to have another child!"

"God, Piper!" Chris suddenly exploded. Although the empath had never been able to read him, now she almost staggered under the sudden anguish she felt together with him.

"If that kid makes you so miserable why don't you just go ahead and get rid of it? It would save the trouble for the both of you!"

With those last angry words white-blue orbs enveloped his lanky form and seconds later, Chris had disappeared.

Staring at the spot where her Whitelighter had stood only moments ago, Phoebe tried to make sense of the expression she had seen on his handsome face. It had looked a lot like betrayal to her. And then his words!

"Did he really just say that?" She asked her equally startled sisters aghast. "Why would he say such a thing after all his future consequences lectures?"

Paige quickly shook herself out of her surprise and countered: "Maybe bad memories? You know, there are parents who actually tell their children they never wanted them."

"Why would he think I wanted to get rid of a child of mine?"

Piper's confused voice behind them reminded the two siblings what had started this whole scene in the first place. Turning around Phoebe could tell that her older sister truly was confused over their Whitelighter's behaviour. Had she even listened to herself ranting?

"Because you _acted_ like it, honey!" Paige told their sister gently. Watching the stricken expression form on Piper's face, Phoebe was almost glad that Chris had reacted the way he had. It had been much more effective to make the woman see the way she acted than anything she could have come up with.

666

Something had just entered his crypt.

Being woken by his vampire sense, Spike lay still a moment to discern the presence that he could suddenly sense in his place. He was certain he had heard no footsteps coming down so that only left non-humans as possible visitors.

Sniffing the air the demon frowned in confusion. Or a certain witch-Whitelighter.

What was the boy doing in his crypt at this time of day? It was still a few hours until dusk; Chris should know he would still be sleeping. Once again scenting the air to give him some kind of clue why the boy was here he could make out a very faint smell of salt. Was the boy crying?

Definitely concerned now Spike rose from his bed, wrapping the bed cloth loosely around him both to prevent another Dawn-episode and to keep the draught down here at bay. Walking around the bed and over to the couch, the vampire asked yawning: "Pet? Wha' are you doing here?"

"'m sorry. I didn't want to wake you." The boy mumbled without answering his question.

Coming to a halt in front of the couch Spike could see Chris sitting on the couch, huddled in on himself. The boy wasn't crying but he didn't look like he would be jumping for joy anytime soon either. Hell, no! He was a demon, he wasn't good at this comforting stuff!

Who could make the half-breed feel so dejected anyway? Leo had a nasty habit of pushing the boy's buttons, but if Chris would have had another run-in with his father he would more likely be fighting with demons to get control over his rage right now. So that left – his mother perhaps?

"Chris?" Sitting down beside him, Spike observed the boy closely. Chris wouldn't meet his eyes but after a few minutes of silence, he started talking.

"She never wanted me, Spike. She said that it was all mistake and it should never have happened."

So it was the boy's mother. Ouch. Spike winced in sympathy. He knew exactly what it felt like to be unwanted.

"I love her and I missed her so much and now she told me she didn't want me..."

He could feel the witch desperately trying to hold back the tears now. But what he said wasn't really true. Spike guessed that rationally, Chris knew that this woman wasn't the mother he knew, not yet at least. Having met the woman, the vampire seriously doubted that she would ever abandon a child of hers or make it feel unwanted, so her words were most likely spoken in shock or something like that. That knowledge wouldn't ease the boy's pain now, however. Only his mother could achieve that.

Having no experience in comforting a human – and not ever having felt the urge to do that in the first place except when his nibblet had cried over her sister's loss – Spike didn't know what to say to the witch. Still, he was reluctant not to at least try to make him feel better, so he decided that maybe honesty would do the trick for once.

"I know what that feels like, pet," he began, watching for the boy's reaction from the corners of his eyes. The young witch looked at him curiously although a bit sceptical. Good, he had his attention.

"Granted, it wasn't my mother. In the times I was born in no one ever asked anyway if a woman wanted to have a kid or not. Did you ever hear of the name Angelus? Bloody sadistic bastard he was, and for a vampire that is a compliment. He was my Sire, the vampire who made me. I virtually lived for his bloody approval my first few decades." Spike snorted at the memory. It was true. Angelus had become the centre of his world in the beginning.

He kinda missed the old times where everything had still been simple, where his sire had been his sire and not this ridiculous parody of a vampire, where humans had been dinner and nothing else, where the slayer had been the enemy and not someone he would mourn for like a soddin' friend...

"Together with his sire Darla and his other childe Drusilla, we were the Scourge of Europe. Raised havoc in quite a few towns, did whatever we wanted to and no one dared to cross our path. Until that poof went and fed of a gypsy girl. Her family cursed him by giving him back his soul and from that moment on the sire I knew and respected was replaced by that wanker who now rejects his own nature and tries to _redeem_ himself by 'helping the helpless'. Suddenly me and Dru were monsters and he didn't want anything to do with us anymore. He bailed on us. Dru cried for her _daddy_ weeks after."

That was as deep as he would go into his feelings. It was not a nice memory and as much as he liked to deny it, the way _Angel_ had looked at him the few times they had met in the course of the last few years still hurt. The boy beside him stared into space, not giving any hint that he had listened to his story at all. He did speak after a couple of moments however.

"What did you do to make the pain stop?"

Spike pursed his lips thoughtfully. "I tortured my victims with railroad spikes."

A barely there grin slipped on the boy's features and the vampire had to grin himself. Chris really had little in common with his Whitelighter father if his story had actually managed to soothe him down rather than freak him out.

"Sounds like a plan."

666

"CHRIS!"

Piper paced back and forth in the nursery, waiting for her overdue Whitelighter to finally arrive here. It was no emergency but still she was impatient for him to appear.

Having talked to her sisters yesterday, she felt the absurd need to explain herself to the young man. Yesterday had possibly been the first time she had ever seen a true emotion on Chris, other than impatience or annoyance that was, and like it or not, the hurt look on his face had gotten to her.

Piper had never actually thought about Chris' parents. She had just assumed that, however young he looked, he had to have been dead for a while given that he _was_ a Whitelighter and all. On the other hand he had told them that he hadn't been a Whitelighter for very long yet and Leo hadn't known him before, so it was quite possible that he had yet to be born in their timeline. The witch had never tried to imagine him as a child but now that she did, she wondered what his childhood had been like for him to react so strongly to her mindless tirade and she just wanted to set things right again.

The sound of orbs behind her brought her back to the present and Piper turned to see her slightly uncomfortable young Whitelighter.

"What's up?" Chris asked in an effort to mask his uneasiness. And again with the firsts, Piper actually felt guilty towards him.

"I just wanted to talk to you," she explained to him.

Pushing his hair back behind his ears in a gesture that Piper had learned by now betrayed his nervousness, Chris told her: "Listen, if this is because of yesterday; I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you like that."

"But you were right. To snap at me, I mean." Catching his suspicious gaze, Piper smiled ruefully. Ever since the boy had come into their lives they had made a right mess of things every step of the way, every single one of them, Whitelighters included.

"Did you have parents that didn't want you, Chris?" She wasn't able to hold back that question even though it might hurt him.

Squinting his eyes in confusion, he watched her warily. Nevertheless Piper saw a deep-rooted pain in his eyes once she tried to look past his attitude.

"My father certainly acted like it." Chris let slip before catching himself. Shaking his head, he asked her bewildered: "What does it matter?"

"It matters to _you_." Letting her eyes wander to her sleeping baby boy, she sighed. What did some parents think treating their children as if they didn't matter?

Guiding her attention back to her waiting Whitelighter, she told him: "I just... I just wanted you to know that it's not the baby I was so upset about. It's the fact that Leo will not be able to be there for two sons now."

"Did you tell him? That you are pregnant?" Chris asked her with a strange expression.

"No! And you won't either!" Piper ordered him fiercely. "I know how hard it was for him to leave one son behind. I don't want him to feel even guiltier for leaving another one behind. His calling is more important." She meant it. But that didn't ease the pain of being abandoned once again.

The young man nodded in agreement and went to leave the room but Piper held him back one more time, wanting him to truly understand this one thing. "Chris? I really do want this child. Okay?"

Watching her intently for a moment, Chris finally granted her with a quiet smile. "Okay."

666

The school was empty this time of day, the long corridors deserted, the library and classrooms both soothingly and eerily quiet, the children and teachers that usually inhabited the place asleep at home or still up and about somewhere else to have fun.

Usually the Elder liked this time of day, the quietness that made the ancient hallways even more imposing, more threatening than they already were. Today however, he wished he could be someplace else, wished, he didn't have to have this conversation. He knew though that it was inevitable. He had to have someone else see his point of view, had to make someone understand what no other Elder obviously wanted to understand. Wyatt Halliwell should never have been allowed to be born.

Gideon angrily paced the length of his office, waiting impatiently for his fellow-Elder to arrive. Why didn't anyone see the threat that this boy posed for all of them? The child was strong even this young. Grown up he would be a force no one would be able to stop if he got out of control. And the heavens have mercy if the boy ever was to be lured to the dark side!

The man had seen what his mother had been able to do with the powers Leo had bestowed upon her to defeat the Titans. Those powers had not been her own and she had given them back eventually, but it only served his conviction that no single person should hold that much power in hands. And Wyatt would have as much powers as her that time once he was an adult. He could not let that happen.

It was too late to prevent the boy from being born at all but Gideon would see to it that he wouldn't be able to cause any harm in the future. If he couldn't convince the other Elders to take away the boy's powers he would find a way to do it himself!

At least he had prevented the possibility of another child of a Charmed One and an Elder by convincing Leo that he would endanger them all if he kept on visiting his family.

Maybe, the other Elders would even have believed him if it weren't for this annoying young Whitelighter from the future who kept insisting that he was here to stop some evil from harming the twice-blessed child and thus destroying the only chance humanity had left to stop the world from descending into darkness. Gideon himself believed the baby was far more of a threat than any demon could ever be, but he played along with the others for the time being.

Sensing his visitor's arrival, the Elder stopped pacing and turned around to greet the other Elder with open arms.

"Sigmund!"

tbc

A/N: Don't really have much to say this time. Except that - for those who didn't read it in the summary - I changed the 10th chapter slightly and added a whole scene at the end because I wanted to have it in but it didn't really fit in this chapter. Sorry...

The intro is from 'Listen to your Heart' by Roxette although I believe there are very few who don't know that song.

Oh my, I just realized that my whole story is gonna be an emotional roller coaster for Chris. Poor boy!

Anyways, on to the reviews:

Sallywags: Don't worry, we're getting there :)

redfox88: Of course he deserved the tell-off ;) And we just assume that Dawn and Spike had it coming for them while Chris was sleeping :) So, thank _you _for the review!

YoshimiWolfspaw: ...just pretend I didn't say anything then :) You have a story? Where!

Lonnie: Yeah, what you said ;)

phoebe turner: Sweet? Well, I think this one was even sweeter :)

So, I think that's it for today. If I forgot anyone, speak up! And a huge Thank You for anyone who reviewed!

Till next week then :)


	12. Hellbound

Title: A Whitelighter's Priority

Author: rachelAbendstern

Summary: A little chat between Paige and Chris. And Bianca comes to visit...

Spoilers: Season 6 Charmed; I forgot to mention BtVS last chapter, 'The Gift'

Disclaimer: Neither Buffy nor Charmed is mine, and I don't make any money with it. Lily though belongs to me XP

12. Hellbound

_Ach und könnt ich doch,  
nur ein einz´ges mal,  
die Uhren rückwärts drehen.  
Denn wie viel vom dem, was ich heute weiß,  
hätt´ ich lieber nie gesehen._

Sunday morning found a tired-looking Chris orbing into the kitchen of the manor after a long night spent at the Bronze in Sunnydale. After two weeks' worth of research in the Magic Box and vanquishing demons at a daily basis the Scoobies had unanimously decided that he needed a break – if only to give _them_ a break from his constant fretting – and had convinced him to spent a little quality time with the gang; well, actually Spike and Xander had all but dragged him to the club, but oh well. It had been quite fun once he had let himself relax enough. The young witch couldn't remember the last time he had danced or played pool or hung out just for the heck of it. He had even managed to ignore his general dislike for noisy and crowded places for the evening.

"Oh thank goodness, you're here!"

Chris heard Paige's grateful voice almost as soon as he materialized. Turning around, he saw the witch awkwardly attempting to set the table with Wyatt on her hip. "You're a godsend, Chris!"

What? Since when was any of them _relieved_ to see him?

"Come again?"

Instead of answering him straight away, the older half-breed quickly strode towards him, dumping the infant in the young man's surprised arms. Luckily for the baby boy Chris' arms tightened their hold around him on their own accord while Chris himself was staring at Paige in bewilderment. Looking in turn at the witch and the kid, he suddenly shook his head vigorously.

"Oh no! No! No way! I won't baby sit Wyatt again!" He declared forcefully while already moving to put his brother into his baby seat.

Paige was back to setting the table when she replied: "Oh don't get your feathers all ruffled! I only need you to hold him until Piper gets back from the bakery or Phoebe is done with her shower!"

Straightening back up, Chris looked at her curiously, arms crossed over his chest. "Why hold him when he can just as well sit in his chair?"

The Charmed One looked up at him, a clearly amused smile tugging at her lips as she cast a glance at the baby. He received his answer a heartbeat later when Wyatt unexpectedly orbed himself back into his arms. His older – _younger_ – brother was only just able to catch the small boy, and Chris suddenly was glad for his honed reflexes.

"That's why!" Paige grinned wickedly, only to get back to work a second later.

"Every time I tried to put him in his chair or in his playpen this morning, he just orbed back to me a moment later."

"Huh." Accepting his fate without any further complaints the young Whitelighter sat down, arranging the infant more comfortably on his lap and watching Wyatt play with his fingers in amazement.

He had absolutely no memories about his brother being so small except some old photographs from before his time; from _this_ time in fact, the time he was stuck in right now. In Chris' every memory of Wyatt the older boy was always towering over him, both literally and figuratively speaking. Wyatt was taller, Wyatt was more popular, Wyatt got all the attention, Wyatt was the Twice-Blessed – as if Chris wasn't the child of a Charmed One and a Whitelighter – Wyatt had Excalibur, Wyatt was more powerful than him, Wyatt was...

The young man sighed in resignation.

Wyatt was Wyatt; and Chris had always been second-best. He had loved his brother – and to be honest he still loved him even if he wished he was able to hate him – and he loved his family; but sometimes he really wanted nothing more than to hex their stupid asses into next year for ignoring him, for not listening to him. The half-breed partly understood why they had always been more lenient with, more protective of his brother but at times it had been as if they didn't even remember that Piper had had another son. And as understanding as he might was about the reasons, it stung; a lot.

If he succeeded in his mission, if he found the demon that would kidnap the toddler before it actually happened, maybe that was something that would change as well. At least he hoped it would. It was not one of the reasons he had been sent here for but it would be nice nevertheless.

Feeling his neck suddenly tingle in that uncomfortable way it did when someone was watching him, he looked up to see his aunt staring at him.

"What?" Chris asked her a bit irritably.

Raising an eyebrow in curiosity, Paige replied: "Nothing!"

At Chris' pointed glare she receded. "You just had that funny expression when you watched Wyatt. Like you couldn't believe what you were seeing."

"And you find that surprising?" The young man countered sarcastically. "I _am_ from the future, you know. I saw that guy at twenty-four and he actually is a head taller than me...was... well... he will be. God, that time-travel-thing gives me a headache!"

"What? Mr. 'Future Consequences' admits that the subject grows over _his_ head as well?" There was a definite gloating smirk on Paige's features now.

Only just able to keep from squirming under her gleeful gaze, Chris finally admitted defensively: "Sometimes. It's not like it's one of my favourite pastimes. And if you comment on that now, I'll find a way to make you regret it. Dearly!"

That threat however only made the witch's smirk grow even wider than it was before.

It felt good bantering with her again. Like old times. Paige had always had a way of keeping him grounded with her sarcasm and quirky sense of humour. For a few minutes he could almost forget the hell they – he – had been through. It didn't last long though.

"Wait! You knew Wyatt in the future?" Damnit! He did say that, didn't he? Silently groaning over his own stupidity he looked down at the toddler-version of the man in question who was still holding onto his hands and avidly watching his aunt standing in front of the fridge.

"Why didn't you tell us? Have you been friends?" Then, a bit more wary "Have you been enemies? I thought you said he was dead!"

"I said he was harmed not dead!" Chris answered the one question he could answer honestly. He had been lying a lot around them recently; but only because he had grown to be a good liar didn't mean he liked it.

The younger half-breed watched in trepidation as his aunt crossed her arms in front of her and put on that stern expression he had learned to fear in his youth. "So. That answers one of my questions. What about the other ones?"

"Paige..." Chris wished he could tell her, he honestly did, but it just wasn't possible; even if her knowing _didn't_ change the future in even worse ways it could still jeopardise his mission. Besides he was as weary of giving the ever same explanation as the Charmed Ones were to hear it. "You know I can't tell you. Fu-"

"Future consequences, I know, I know."

In a seriously frustrated gesture the woman threw her hands in the air and exclaimed angrily: "That's _all_ you ever say when things get personal! You know what? I think you're more afraid of the consequences for you than for the future!"

And maybe she was right. But that didn't really matter either way because there was no way in hell he would tell them his true story. If he had his way, his family would neither know of nor experience the kill-or-be-killed-place the world had become in his timeline.

"Did you ever consider that I keep things from you for your own good?" Chris asked her aloud before his mind had been able to censure his mouth.

"No, actually that never occurred to me." Her anger vanished almost as fast as it had risen as she eyed her Whitelighter speculatively.

"But even so, it's not your place to decide that. We are all adults, Chris, we faced more than our share of weirdness and evil and what-not. You might be our Whitelighter now, but that doesn't mean you have to protect us from everything. Why can't you just trust us to be able to handle the truth and be responsible about it? We may have made some mistakes in the past but we are the Charmed Ones for a _reason_, you know?"

Again, she was right of course. But there was too much at stake for him to take the risk.

"What does your gut tell you?" He asked her instead.

"What?" He caught her off guard, he could tell; which partly was the reason for his question.

"About me, I mean." Chris clarified, keeping his eyes on Wyatt instead of her.

"I don't know!" Paige admitted with a sigh, running both hands through her hair in order to calm down. "I never know with you. I _like_ you well enough but I just can't seem to decide whether or not to _trust_ you. There is something you're not telling us, something big! I guess I would feel more comfortable about you if I knew everything there is to know."

Chris looked up at her again in astonishment. That had been unexpected. He had been half prepared for a tirade on why she didn't trust him in the least.

Heaving another sigh, Paige gazed at the two of them a few moments before she continued. "But seeing as Wyatt trusts you and Victor seemed to trust you as well, I'm willing to believe that you're not here to harm us. Although I still don't understand why you didn't tell us before that you knew Wyatt. It's not like that knowledge would have changed anything about the future."

Staring at Paige for a few moments after her declaration he tried to come up with something to tell her. Now, he wanted even less to lie to her. The sound of orbing startled Chris out of his thoughts and he looked down to see Wyatt happily suckling on his pacifier which had lain next to the sink only seconds ago.

"We had been friends." He finally admitted quietly. "A long time ago."

666

_"You don't command me, Hammond!" Chris seethed. How dare that – that arrogant damnable human _mortal_ major give him orders? Much less this set of orders! "I don't have to do anything you say!"_

_"Listen, you selfish little brat!" The burly older man was not far behind the boy with his anger. "You should be glad that we tolerate you in our middle at all! After all you're endangering everyone here with your mere presence. This is _your_ brother out there who is doing all the damage and all you do is let him do it! Brave and honest men have let their lives out there for all our safety. It's time you do your share to repay their efforts! Either that or you and your little family will find yourselves kicked out of here!"_

_This wasn't happening. Did that man even realize who – what – Chris was?_

_"Are you even listening to yourself? You want to _guilt_ me into this! Are you forgetting who you are talking to, _major_? Fine then. Why don't I just give up on the shields over this place that has kept you safe from Wyatt and any demons he sent for the last _two damn years_? Or better yet: why don't I just use my powers to kick _you_ out of this place? Do I really need to remind you that this club where you have set up your headquarters in against my will is still _mine_! Only because I let you stay here _doesn't_ mean I don't have the power to throw you out!"_

_The glasses rattling around them should have been an indication to the stubborn soldier that he better made for a tactical retreat. Chris was very close to let his powers loose on the man. How dare he threaten his family! But Major Hammond disregarded the signs of the witch's anger – or plainly underestimated him – and spat:_

_"Damn witch! If you ask me you sorcerers and witches are no better than the demons you claim to fight! If it was for me, I would let you burn, the whole lot of you! You wouldn't be so self-confident without your powers!"_

_Sadly, the major's opinion was not that uncommon among those without any 'gifts'. Many people had learned to be afraid of witchcraft ever since Wyatt's rise to power. Nevertheless it made Chris angry. His family had fought for generations to protect those people, those _innocents_ as his mother had liked to call them, although many of them were far from innocent, and now that arrogant mortal had the audacity to tell him..._

_"No one asked for your opinion." Chris told the other man dangerously calm. "And I wouldn't say it quite so loud if I were you. The witches in these times are not afraid to defend themselves anymore. This is not Salem. And we have learned to fight for us and those we love. Witchcraft was the only thing that has kept you alive for the last few years, if you want to believe it or not. Right now, witchcraft is the one weapon that _you_ base all your hopes on. So don't tell me how much you despise magic if you don't want to lose the small chance that you have at convincing me to let you stay!"_

_He would not throw them out of course. The annoying brute of a major just needed to be reminded of his place now and again. Chris knew as well as everyone else that Wyatt had to be stopped and he felt he owed those people out there to contribute to the small hope that the resistance had given them. That didn't mean though that he would go along with this particular plan!_

666

"Gutter, gutter, gutter!"

Piper laughed at her youngest sister's words. It was late evening and they were sitting in the P3 at the bar, talking about – men. What else could they be talking about when Paige had so kindly advised them to get their minds out of the gutter. The youngest Halliwell sister had met a new guy a few days ago and Phoebe and her had wanted to know how things stood between the two lovebirds.

Piper herself kind of missed dating as well; but everything considered that had happened as of late she wasn't quite ready to start that whole game again. Getting herself and her kids safely through this pregnancy was somehow more important to her at the moment.

"What are you girls talking about?" A well-known voice from behind them interrupted their little chat and the witch turned her head to see Chris passing them by.

"Stuff." Phoebe answered him, a grin still firmly in place.

"Hey, where are you going?" That question came from Paige and they all looked at him curiously when he turned around to face them.

"I'm gonna go work on the next demon." Piper had to keep from laughing as she saw the look on his face when he suddenly realized just where he had said that explanation out loud.

"– stration." The young man amended a second too late.

Sometimes, Piper wondered if there ever would be a time when her Whitelighter would think about something other than his demon hunts. It reminded her of a wild goose chase now and again if she wasn't preoccupied with being pissed off with him.

Phoebe's next words proved that her sister had been thinking along the same lines.

"Chris, why don't you relax and come have a drink with us?"

But the young Whitelighter was already on his way to the little room in the back of the club which Piper let him use.

"Thanks, but I didn't come here to relax." He told them over his shoulder when he walked away.

Exasperated, Paige groaned and looked at her sisters almost pleadingly.

"That is one bitchy Whitelighter!" Piper actually couldn't tell if Phoebe sounded more tired, annoyed or amused. She for one really did not want to bring up the energy to be more than slightly ruffled by Chris' behaviour. "You're telling me."

"Piper, why don't you go talk to the guilt-machine over there?" Paige asked her with a hopeful look on her face.

Well, they were all tired of hunting, but – why her?

"Why me?"

"Because he's more likely to listen to you." Paige told her in her no-none-sense-voice. Thinking over what she had just said, she then wryly admitted: "Not that he ever listens to anyone. Well except for Spike."

"You noticed that, too, huh?" Phoebe snorted.

Even Piper had noticed. As far as she could tell from the few visits the demon had paid them, Chris might not actually do what the vampire told him but William had more of an influence on her Whitelighter's decisions than anyone else she knew could claim. Who would have thought; a Whitelighter who was darker than any other she had ever met and a demon who claimed of himself to be evil. Strange as it seemed, they were two of a kind; acting as father, brother and friend all in one.

Still contemplating the curious relationship the two of them had formed, the oldest Charmed One opened the door to Chris' room, only to find a strange beautiful woman obviously attacking the young man. If her glowing hand in Chris' chest was any indication.

Quickly recovering from her initial shock, Piper snapped her hands and the startled witch or warlock or whatever the hell she was exploded into millions of tiny pieces while her Whitelighter slid down to the ground with shock and surprise written all over his features.

666

_"No, Bianca, not you, too." Chris pleaded with his lover._

_How in hell had the major convinced her to speak to him about this ridiculous plan? Going back to the past to kill his own brother as a baby! There was no way he would do such a thing! He would not kill a baby, much less his brother! Aside from that, he knew better than to tamper with the past. It was simply too risky. He could majorly mess things up for all of them if he unintentionally changed something he didn't want to change!_

_"Chris, this might be the only chance that we have left to change things for the better."_

_The half-breed stared incredulously at the woman he loved. Major Hammond was an insensitive jerk, hearing the idea from his lips had not been that surprising for Chris. But now Bianca was telling him to..._

_"I won't kill my own brother, Bianca! Especially not his baby-self!" Chris hissed through clenched teeth, keeping his volume down despite his anger to not wake up his sleeping daughter._

_"And I don't suggest you do!" The Phoenix looked at him with that expression that clearly told him to hear her out before he exploded in her face._

_"The major can order all sorts of things, but in the end he won't be there to make sure you stay with his plan." She paused a moment, making sure that Lily was still asleep in the adjacent room before she sat down beside him on their small bed, taking his hand into hers._

_"Remember that one conversation we had with Victor? That something might have messed with your brother's mind when he had been abducted as a kid? What if he's right? What if he had been traumatised so much that your mother's death had been a trigger to set off his sleeping dark side? He_ _had never been that stable to begin with from what you told me. If we could prevent his_ _abduction from ever happening wouldn't it be worth the risk if we were able to create another – better – timeline? A timeline where we didn't have to worry who will be his next victim, where Lily would be able play outside on the streets with other kids her age without them being in any danger..."_

_She had him with this argument and she knew it. He would do anything – _anything_ – to keep his little family safe. And it was not just about them. There were so many innocents out there, so many who would die if they were not able to stop the Dark Lord. If there really was a chance that this plan could work they had to try it. And Chris was the logical – and only – choice to do so._

_"What if grandpa's wrong? What if it wasn't the abduction that turned him?" Chris asked quietly although he already knew the answer himself._

_"Then you have to do what you think best."_

tbc

A/N: Umm… I'm alive? Anybody missed me?

So yeah, I took my time with this update, didn't I? I was on vacation, unfortunately so was my muse. Sorry…

I'm not prticularly happy with this, though.

This chapter and the next one will be heavily leaned on Chris-crossed, I know, but I think after that the resemblance with the series will stop. Except for a few things :) Although, the encounter of Chris and Bianca didn't go _quite _the way it did on TV :) -as you'll see soon.

Anyway, the intro was from 'Kein Zurueck' by Wolfheim and here is the translation if you're interested:

_Alas, if only I could turn back the clocks  
One mere time.  
Because how many of the things I know today  
I'd rather have not seen at all._

And now the reviews (I know, I have been lazy not to write any emails this time):

Karone Evertree: Don't sweat it. It gave me a hard time uploading today as well. As for Chris, you know I didn't mean it like that. And Piper did take it back in a way. Anyway, I suppose you won't like this or the next chapter very much seeing as you don't like Bianca. It's necessary for the plot though... Thanks for the praise on the last chapters though :) I almost forgot: yeah, that was an oops. I didn't notice I wrote two 'sons'... let's just say it's mother's intuition, why don't we? ;)

Night-Owl123: Sorry, that was not really soon :( I'll try to be better though ;)

DrewFullerFanLife: Thanks!

redfox88: Of course I had to slip that in. It has to get interesting sometime ;) Thanks!

Martina: Thanks! You have point with what you said there. But we still love them, don't we?

alienangel19852003: Thanks! Although unfortunately this isn't quite 'next week'...

anianka: Thanks! Glad you like it so much! As for Gideon, he is in for a nasty surprise (Although, that might be a while). And don't hold back on my behalf. I'm not to say I always consider the ideas you guys have, but sometimes its really a boost in the right direction to see what you guys think will happen next ;)

phoebe turner: Thanks! Sorry I took my time. But why did you review twice for the same story?

Meraculas: Thank you!

mewer44444: well you just have to wait and see ;)

starra86: Don't fret. I thankful for every review I get, even if you only review once throughout the entire story :) And Drusilla did sire Spike, as I found out a few days ago. I just had seen that one episode of 2. season (School hard) where Spike told Angel something like 'you were my Sire, my Yoda' when I wrote the chapter. So, thanks!

YoshimiWolfspaw: Thanks! I have to read them some day soon...

rcaqua: Thanks a bunch!

hope master: Wow, thanks!

Lonnie: Yeah, poor Chris. hehehe that's why I love Spike!

KlownKid-131: Thanks, I'll keep trying! I never actually looked it up, but I did surf the net and came up with some very obscure sites. Oh well, I still like the word ;)

Stony Angel: Thanks, you flatter me! Anyway, as I said before, one of the main reasons I started with the story was because Spike and Chris seemed to make for some nice moments. In my opinion at any rate, so there will be a bit more of that :)

Serina Kat: Thanks a lot! Glad you like it even though you don't know Buffy :)

Shoequeeny: Thanks for reviewing! I really hope I do the series honor, because they are two of my favourite as well :) The girls will stay oblivious for some time yet, however ;)

BlackNightWolf04: I don't know what to say except thanks! A lot!

wickedwms: Thank you! I'll do my very best ;)

Nacoutte: I can't promise to update as much as you would like me to, but I'll certainly try. There aren't really that many Charmed-Buffy Crossovers, are there? So, thanks a bunch:)

God, I really feel terrible for making you wait so long! I just hope it was worth it.

And a huge thanks and kisses to all of you who reviewed for my Oneshot 'Just a Boy'. Don't be mad, but I'm really tired right now.

So, see ya all! (Hopefully this weekend, but I don't promise anything!)


	13. Darkness Calls

Title: A Whitelighter's Priority

Author: rachelAbendstern

Summary: Bianca wants to take Chris back to the future...

Spoilers: Season 6 Charmed; I forgot to mention BtVS last chapter, 'The Gift'

Disclaimer: Neither Buffy nor Charmed is mine, and I don't make any money with it. Lily though belongs to me XP

13. Darkness Calls

_So take my hand and come with me  
We will change reality.  
So take my hand and we will pray  
They won't take you away!_

Living the life Chris had led, there weren't many things that easily surprised him. Vampires, banshees, werewolves, fairies or nymphs, leprechauns or dwarves, all that didn't even faze him anymore. Growing up around witchcraft with three of the most powerful witches ever, being part-witch himself and having an angel for a father kind of made sure there really weren't many things left that he didn't believe possible. His time with the resistance had even made sure that he had learned to calculate the most impossible of situations into his plans and tactics.

So, no, Chris Perry Halliwell wasn't easily taken by surprise.

What did surprise him however was the visitor that waited for him in his rarely-used little room in the back of the P3. She was wearing her black spandex outfit again, sitting comfortably on a chair in the corner of the room. Her hair was a shade lighter than he remembered.

"Bianca?" He knew without a doubt that it was her. Glad as he was to see her again it didn't make sense, she wasn't supposed to be here. Approaching her cautiously, Chris got a funny feeling in his stomach; something must have gone wrong for her to have gone after him.

"I don't understand. What are you doing here?"

She had looked up at him as soon as he had entered the room. Now she rose out of her seat and met him halfway. To a casual watcher she might have looked calm and reserved as she moved with a predator's grace towards him. Having spent the last five years with her, Chris knew better than that however; she may have seemed calm on the outside but her eyes looked haunted.

"You have to come back with me, Chris!" Her composed words threw Chris in an emotional turmoil. Come back? She was the one who had convinced him to go through with this crazy mission in the first place! Why in hell did she want him to come back with her now? Unless...

"What? Why? What happened, Bianca?" He couldn't entirely keep the light tremor out of his voice. There was so much that could have gone wrong. Her presence didn't necessarily mean that...

"He found out about Lily! He took her as leverage..." Bianca's quiet, almost detached voice interrupted his internal rant – and made his worst nightmares come true.

The Phoenix wouldn't meet his eyes for a long moment but when she did, Chris was able to see the fierce determination that had fascinated him about her from the very beginning.

"I have to take you back to him. Otherwise he will keep Lily and raise her as his own and you know what that would mean."

Oh god! Lily was still young enough to be easily influenced by both sides and if Wyatt decided to raise her that would mean she would be turned evil, in the worst possible scenario she would even fight against her own parents! They couldn't let this happen!

"So what will you do now?" Chris asked his wife in a tone as calm as her own. He, too, had learned the art of suppressing his emotions in order to do what was necessary.

"I am to strip you of your powers. You and I both know that that will only take away your witch- and Whitelighter-powers; you will still have your elementals. We just have to hope that that will be enough to get her back unharmed."

His elemental powers? She couldn't be serious! They were far too unpredictable! Chris had thought he was busted the few times he hadn't been able to keep them in check around here. Fortunately, his family was as oblivious as ever; not even in the future had they known about this special power.

"My elementals?" he all but shrieked. "Bianca, you know I have never managed to control them!"

The crack in her posture was now for everyone to see as she exclaimed in desperation: "I know! But it's the only chance we've got!"

Chris knew she was right. His elemental powers were strong once he let them loose. The one thing he had learned about them was that his emotions were the key to this particular part of his heritage and one way or the other, Wyatt had always been able to stir intense emotions in him. The young man only hoped he could master them enough to get his two girls out of danger.

After the barest hint of hesitation, Chris told her firmly: "Go ahead then."

The pain was just like he remembered it from the first and last time she had ever tried to strip his powers. And just like last time, Bianca didn't get to finish the job. Although this time, it wasn't his survival instincts kicking in but his mother who chose that precise inconvenient moment to interrupt them. That figured...

Witnessing her Whitelighter seemingly attacked by a strange witch, Piper did what years of experience had taught her to do; with a quick flick of both her hands his wife exploded into millions of pieces. Had Chris not known that Bianca couldn't be destroyed that way, he would have probably freaked out; at any rate, it was _creepy_.

"Are you all right?" His mother's concerned voice broke through his mental cursing about their bad luck. Looking up at her from where he had slid down the wall the younger witch cursed again. Great. Now he had to lie to her about yet _another_ thing.

"Yeah, I think so." He accepted the hand she held out to help him up while answering.

When he was standing upright, Piper eyed him inquiringly. "What happened? Who was she?"

But Chris barely heard her questions. Staring into space, disregarding the painful burning in his chest where Bianca had been unable to complete the stripping the youngest Halliwell wondered what the hell they were going to do now with the Charmed Ones involved.

"I don't know..."

666

_The city lay in ruins all around them, the sad remnants of the once glorious Golden Gate Bridge and the destroyed skyscrapers and decaying buildings evidence of Wyatt's wrath – and power._

_But Chris really couldn't care less at the moment._

_"Will you marry me?"_

_They had been together for almost five years now, had a three and a half year old daughter they were both terribly proud of, but that was a subject that none of them had dared to broach up until now, despite his grandfather's constant nagging. Chris wasn't even sure why._

_What he was sure of however was that he wanted their bonding to be official before he had to leave her. The preparations for his mission were still in the beginning, there was still time before he had to go. But if he couldn't take her with him he wanted this at least. It would make their relationship final somehow, mirroring the pledge they would be taking. 'Until death shall part us.'_

_Bianca must have had the same thoughts some time during the last weeks judging from her glowing smile. "You're asking me now? Here?"_

_They were sitting in a park, in 'their spot' , Bianca and he. It was a small flower garden that the two of them had discovered ages ago, when it had still been intact. It was veiled from the rest of the park by crumbling stone walls; even now it was beautiful, with all the evil surrounding it and although there was only one patch of flowers left. Chris smiled unconsciously, remembering how it had come to life. That patch had been the first hint of Lily's powers._

_The first time they had taken the little girl with them it had been as bare as everything else around it. They had let her play for a while and when they had turned their attention back to their daughter, Lily had been sitting on a small carpet of flowers, smiling up at them and telling: "Look, mommy, daddy, what I made!" Chris supposed it was a variation of his own elemental powers._

_"This is still our spot, Bianca." He answered her with a hint of sadness. "No matter what he's done to it. Marry me."_

_If possible, Bianca's smile grew even wider. "On one condition," She told him sternly. "You come back to me. Safely."_

_Smiling back at her, he answered her with a question: "Have I ever let you down before?"_

666_  
_

"Is that the mark?" Phoebe heard her little sister ask.

Paige was leafing through the Book of Shadows, trying to find the demon or witch who had attacked Chris half an hour ago while their Whitelighter was pacing the attic.

They had all orbed up here as soon as Piper had informed them about what happened. Curiously enough, Chris was the only one who didn't want to find out more about the strange woman who very nearly had killed him – from what Piper had told them anyway – and that alone made the empath wonder. Normally, Chris was the first one to do the research when one of them had been attacked, even if the demon was already vanquished.

"No. It looked more like a bird." Piper answered her sister.

"A bird."

The younger woman snorted but before she could say anything more, Phoebe interrupted her.

"You know, maybe we should call Leo." Her brother-in-law would know what to do, he always did. Besides, she kind of missed having him around. Her suggestion however caused more of an uproar than she would have expected. Both Piper and Chris seemed to be equally scandalized by the mere idea to have Leo back in their lives.

"What? No, no way!" Phoebe just stared at them for a heartbeat at their unanimous protest. The two of them had sounded eerily alike for a moment there. Sharing a glance with her other sister she noticed the same surprise on her face but Paige just shrugged.

"Why not?" The half-breed then asked curiously, defending Phoebe's point. "I mean, he could know something we don't. He always does. Or is there something you're not telling us, Chris?"

"What?" Their Whitelighter just stared in confusion at his charge but Phoebe instantly understood what Paige was implying. After all, they had had a situation like that before.

"That's right, Chris," she piped up. "You're not keeping from us that Leo has been kidnapped again, are you?" To her surprise the young man looked almost offended at the accusation.

"No! He's perfectly fine _up there_!"

And again with the surprises, the empath swore she could hear contempt in his words, which was... not making sense, him being a Whitelighter himself and all.

"Then why not?" She asked him startled. "I mean, Piper I can understand in a way, but you? I know you and Leo don't get along too well but this is important after all."

Chris sighed, obviously trying to calm himself down – with slim to no effect. "Because we don't need him. We have been just fine without him. He hasn't shown up for almost three month by now, what makes you think he will change his opinion all of a sudden?"

What the hell was wrong with him? She knew Chris didn't like the Elder very much, but she had never seen him quite so angry at him before now. On one hand she was glad she couldn't sense anything from him because as angry as he seemed to be, she would have one hell of a migraine right about now. But then again Phoebe really wanted to know _why_ he was so furious. It seemed to be more on their behalf than on his own.

"Because his family's been attacked!" She clarified, her own voice louder than she had intended.

"I'm not family, least of all to him." The young man told them harshly. At all of their pointed stares he insisted one more time: "I'm telling you I'm fine, don't sweat it!"

Hearing Piper's sigh, Phoebe turned around to her sister to see her rubbing her eyes tiredly with one hand. "He's right, we don't need him. Besides, what am I supposed to tell him about me being pregnant?"

Oh. Yeah, there was that. But... "Piper, you're not even showing yet. At least not obviously. Anyway, I think he has a right to know."

Before Piper could utter another word of objection however, the youngest Halliwell sister finally lost her temper and blustered: "Whatever! LEO!"

"Oh, bloody hell!"

Suddenly amused, Phoebe grinned at her Whitelighter. "You definitely hang around Spike too much!"

Her grin wavered though when she caught sight of Piper's sour expression. Her sister didn't say anything but her look told of future punishment for _both_ her younger sisters.

666

Suppressing the urge to follow Chris' example and snort in derision, Phoebe stared incredulously at her brother-in-law. Had he really just asked them to _meditate_ over their problems? And what was it about these robes? Could this get any more ridiculous?

"We... don't want to meditate, Leo." Paige told him firmly, wearing a look that clearly stated: 'What's _his_ deal?' "Somebody attacked Chris."

They didn't get the response they were hoping for, though. The Elder just watched them, obviously waiting for more. "So?"

Sharing another incredulous look with her sister, Paige elaborated: "So, we want to find out who she was and we were hoping that maybe _you_ could help us!"

Turning around to see Chris' reaction, Phoebe caught him with an indecipherable look on his face. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought that Leo's indifference had hurt him. When the young man felt her stare he focused on her, mouthing with a shrug of his shoulders: 'I told you so.'

After some other ten or twenty minutes they had managed to get Wyatt's father back in touch with 'worldly' matters. He was their familiar protective, sceptical Whitelighter again. Shaking her head in exasperation, Phoebe thought wryly that he had to have been high on something. Constantly having his head up in the clouds couldn't be good for anyone.

"You sure she wasn't a Darklighter?" Leo asked Piper again.

After her previous reluctance to call him at all, she sure took his presence easy the empath observed as her older sister replied: "I'm sure"

"What else would be after a Whitelighter?" Phoebe asked confused. Watching her Whitelighter pace again, she wasn't able to shake off the feeling that Chris hadn't told them everything he knew.

"I don't know, that's what worries me." Leo confessed, equally confused.

Suddenly, Chris stopped with his pacing to face them, declaring in annoyance: "She's gone, Piper blew her away, what's the big deal?"

That boy was so _stubborn_ not even Piper could compare to him! Didn't he understand that someone had tried to kill him?

"The big deal is someone tried to _kill_ you Chris!"

She tried to make him see reason, but Chris would have none of it.

"Look at me! Not a scratch. Nothing!"

"You know, how did she get that close to you anyway if you didn't even who she was?"

Yeah, that was the Leo they all knew and loved, Phoebe silently snorted; not trusting Chris the small inch the younger Whitelighter was taller than him. But he did have a point. Her father believing in the young man or not, that wouldn't be the first time he had kept information from them.

A loose floorboard creaked when the younger man walked over it.

"You really oughta fix that, you know?" And that was so like Chris that the witch didn't know whether to cry or laugh in frustration. Weren't the two of them able to get by _five minutes_ without jumping onto each other's throat?

"Come on, Chris, who's after you?" Apparently not...

"How the hell should I know?" The younger Whitelighter looked at Leo, his voice still calm but Phoebe could clearly see the challenge in his gleaming eyes. "It's not as if she had waited for me to interrogate her before she attacked!"

"You're lying." Leo stated flatly. God, their quarrelling wasn't helping them a bit. She almost regretted she ever suggested calling for Leo.

"What_ever_." Chris was shaking his head in defeat, not even bothering to defend himself against the Elder's accusation. Phoebe almost felt sorry for him. "Now, if you don't mind, I would like to go to bed sometime _before_ dawn. Because this isn't getting us anywhere!"

Silence followed his departure. He was right and they all knew it. They wouldn't accomplish anything anymore tonight.

"He's not telling the truth." Leo repeated once Chris was out of hearing range.

"Leo, maybe there is nothing to tell." Curious, how defensive Paige had gotten over him in the course of the last months. In the beginning, Phoebe remembered, her youngest sister was the first one to accuse him of lying.

"Could you sense anything?"

Her head came up at Leo's question. He ought to know the answer to it by now though. "From Chris? No, I can never sense anything from him."

Piper, who had perched herself next to her on the armchair without Phoebe even noticing, asked her ex-husband curiously: "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that, if we figure out who she was, maybe we're able to figure out who Chris is."

Huh. That was worth a shot, she had to admit. But for now, she would take their peculiar Whitelighter's example and go to sleep.

666

Where the hell was he? He should be here by now, he _knew_ how dangerous it was for him that she had been interrupted in stripping his powers. Damn his mother for walking in on them!

Bianca was waiting for Chris behind a statue in 'their spot', knowing he would show up sooner or later. She'd rather it would be sooner than later, for all of their sakes. The little garden was bathed in moonlight, glowing in all its unmarred beauty but the Phoenix didn't have eyes for it. Although her outward appearance seemed cool and collected, not giving anything away, she was shaking with fear inside. Fear for both her husband and their daughter.

She hadn't told Chris yet how Wyatt had even managed to get to Lily in the first place and if she could help it, she never would. Her little girl had spent the day at her great-grandfather's when Wyatt had decided to pay the old man a visit. Bianca didn't know why they had always considered Victor safe from Chris' older brother. He had no powers, Wyatt had never bothered him before but they should have known that there would come a time when the dark ruler remembered his mortal relative. She didn't want to tell her lover what had happened. Chris knew that Victor had slowly been dying all along; but to find out that his beloved grandfather had been killed by his own grandson... Victor had been the only relative Chris had left and he had adored the older man. Bianca was sure that knowledge would devastate him.

And above all that, Wyatt kept Lily hostage. Bianca wanted to scream in anger and desperation and hopelessness. Everything they had fought for! And now all that was jeopardized because Wyatt had found the one weakness, the one thing both Chris and Bianca would risk everything for to get her back to safety again.

Victor's death, Lily's kidnapping... In theory, all of that would be prevented if Chris succeeded in saving the baby self of his older brother, she knew that. But Bianca just wasn't prepared to take that risk; apparently neither was Chris.

The soft light and sound of orbing startled her out of her depressing thoughts and she came out from behind the statue to see the love of her life sitting on the bench in front of her, desperately holding onto the stone to keep from falling over. Finally! The use of his powers only made the effects worse.

"You really shouldn't try to orb anymore, you know?" Bianca told Chris calmly. He turned around to look at her and she continued. "It could kill you!"

"Gee, that was the hello I wanted to hear after not seeing you for eight friggin' months!" Chris' sardonic voice replied. She felt a smile tugging at her lips at his words. How could he still be joking? It was one of the things she loved about him and envied him for, his ability to spring back from any blow that had been aimed his way. But even Chris could only take so much.

Sitting down next to him, she took his face in her hands and kissed him lightly on his lips, taking a moment to just relish his presence before reality could reclaim its hold on her again. Leaning her forehead against his, she whispered: "Just let me finish what I started. You'll feel better soon, I promise."

The glow that surrounded her hand faded when she was finished and drew away from him.

"What now?" Chris looked at her inquiringly, already looking considerably better. "How are you gonna bring me back anyway? That spell's a one way door. It only goes backwards in time."

That was a good question; unfortunately one Bianca had the answer to. "He created another spell because of you. One that works both ways."

Raising his eyebrows in surprise, Chris mocked: "I'm touched."

"You should be."

Bianca tried to sound serious but she couldn't keep the smile from showing. It was good to hear his voice again. The past few months had been hell, always worrying if everything had planned out the way they had wanted it to, always worrying that there would come the day Lily wouldn't be safe any longer. Now that day had come and passed but just to have him back in her life again seemed to have lifted the weight that had settled on her shoulders ever since the day he had left.

"Let's go back to the attic." Chris suggested out of the blue.

"The attic? Why? I can cast the spell from anywhere." It was almost dawn. The attic would be too dangerous with all of the Charmed Ones in the house and Chris knew that!

"I'd rather have a back-up plan instead of hoping I can control my elementals." Chris explained reasonably. "You can prepare the spell while I'll look through the Book of Shadows for something that can help us. Preferably a spell to return my powers once we're in the future."

Wordlessly Bianca nodded in agreement, taking him by the hand and shimmering into the attic of the manor with him.

Around ten minutes later, Bianca was about to tell him that she was ready to cast the spell, a flawless triquetra drawn on the wooden wall in her back. But just like last time they were suddenly interrupted by the opening door. And just like last time, it was Piper, Chris' mother who did the interrupting.

They were only able to share one panicked look before the Charmed One loudly demanded to know: "What the _hell_ is going on here?"

666

Chris froze when he heard his mother's furious shout. _Could_ this day get any worse?

He had actually found a spell that looked as if it might work if he modified it a bit. Apparently, he wouldn't have the time to do that however since he could tell that Piper's voice had alarmed the other occupants of the house, including Leo.

"Hurry, Bianca!" He ordered his wife just before Paige and the Elder materialized in the attic next to an angry Halliwell matriarch while Phoebe ran up the stairs.

Cursing under his breath, Chris rushed over to were Bianca was standing, a now dangerous gleam in her eyes. Nothing would stand between her and her baby girl. They had to go if he wanted to prevent any possible bloodshed.

"That's her!" He heard his mother suddenly tell the others incredulously. "That's the demon that attacked him. But I blew her up!"

"She can reform," the young man informed them while grabbing Bianca's wrist to keep her from doing anything rash. "And she didn't attack me, she stripped my powers."

"What the hell are you up to, Chris?" Phoebe inquired, unlike her sister looking more bewildered than angry.

"Protecting my family!" He countered flatly, casting Leo a glare. "You should know what that's like!"

"Your family? You're saying you have _demon_ relatives?" His father looked like he had been punched in the gut. Seemed like he really couldn't stand his lover in either timeline...

"He's saying that I'm his _wife_!" Bianca finally lost her temper. Stepping away from his grasp she approached the Charmed Ones and the Elder menacingly, talking all the while.

"Now, if you don't mind, my husband and I have to go back to the hell you had a part in creating and hope we will be able to save our daughter!"

Oh dear. Bianca really was furious. She had been the one to repeatedly tell him that he had to keep his secrets and now she had just told them more about him than he had ever let slip himself. In the end, he guessed it didn't matter though. It would have to take more than a small wonder that could help him escape from Wyatt's grasp one last time.

"We have to go, Chris!" Turning around again, Bianca pulled on his wrist to get him moving, but the sisters were not finished with them yet.

"Piper freeze them!" He heard Paige's rushed words in his back. No second after that he could feel his mother's powers wash over him and sighed. Yet another secret revealed...

"Uh..."

Piper's anger seemed to have vanished as she asked dryly: "Ok, I get why she didn't freeze but why didn't he freeze?"

Turning around, he could see his mother scratching her head in a tell-tale sign of bewilderment.

"Un-, unless he's a...?"

Phoebe didn't finish her sentence, so he did it for her. It didn't really matter anymore anyway.

"...I'm a witch, too? That's right, part witch, part Whitelighter, just like you Paige."

"You lied to us?" She accused him while her sisters and Leo just stared at Chris and his wife, knowing less than ever before what to think about their rogue Whitelighter.

"I had to. It was the only way I could get you to trust me."

"Trust you?" Phoebe sputtered in indignation. Ouch, that stung.

"Never mind. It doesn't matter anyway."

He turned around again but was stopped one more time by the eldest sister. "So that's it, you're just gonna leave?"

Of course he was, hadn't she been listening? It was his daughter's life that was at stake here. What would she have done if it was Wyatt?

Out loud he retorted: "I don't have a choice. It's true that I came here to help you protect Wyatt. But honestly? I would sell my soul if it kept my daughter safe."

"Let them go, Piper!" This completely unexpected assistance came from his youngest aunt.

When everyone focused their attention on her, looking at her as if they thought she had gone mad, Paige exclaimed: "Oh, come on! What would you do if it was Wyatt's life at stake out there? Piper? Leo?"

Paige was truly incredible, Chris decided. She even managed to make his parents feel guilty from the look on their faces.

"And you!" The witch suddenly rounded on him, the loose floorboard under her feet screeching in protest. "I don't care if you bring your whole damn family with you, but you will come back here to finish what you started! Because one thing's for sure, Spike will kill us if we let something happen to you!"

Despite everything, that statement brought a smile on his face. Knowing Spike, he would probably find a way to make them pay if Chris didn't manage to come back. And Chris would sorely miss all of the Scoobies, especially Spike and Dawn.

Casting a last glance at the four people who had been his family all this time ago, a thought crossed his mind. Maybe they were actually willing to help him for once, if only to get their hands on him to strangle Chris themselves for lying to them once again.

Ignoring Bianca's questioning gaze, the half-breed told the startled Elder: "Looks like you have to fix that floorboard without me, Leo!"

There had happened too much between him and his family in his life – which they didn't even know of, but yet... – that he could just ask them for help now. But if they really _wanted_ to help him, they would find a way with help of this little message, they always did.

Taking his wife by the hand and facing the portal, he stated: "Let's go!"

With a wave of her hand the portal opened, glowing in a shimmering deep blue light, and without another backwards glance they stepped through it hand in hand.

Darkness awaited them on the other side. Not the kind they had departed from in the past, not the lack of light that was part of the natural order; but the darkness that came with hopelessness and fear and the threat the six demons posed, that were only waiting for an order to finish the two of them off.

That and a fearsome little voice he hadn't heard in way too long.

"Mommy! Daddy!"

The next thing he knew, there were small familiar arms around his neck when Lily had escaped her captors and shimmered into his arms.

Tbc

A/N: Here you go! I spent almost the whole weekend trying to make this as good as I could to make up for the lack of updates the previous two weeks :)

Hope you appreciate it ;)

Phew, the heat is killing me, that and the hay fever. I don't know how I will survive classes tomorrow...

So, now we have Lily in the picture. For everyone who couldn't wait to meet her, she will stay with us for a while ;)

The intro this time is from 'Animal Instinct' by the Cranberries. Terrific Irish band, let me tell you!

I know, I said I don't like reviews in the chapters themselves. I don't. But the server was so slow today that it would have taken me ages to respond to all of your revs separately and I still have to pay for the phone bill...

That being covered, let's move on to the reviews:

Talkin' of normality: Thanks! I did.

Night-Owl 123: Thank you! I think this was a bit sooner :)

YoshimiWolfspaw: Yes, I'm alive. Thank you! I'm sooner this time. Sorry for the next cliffie ;)

BlackNightWolf04: Thank you! Yeah, I think I write Spike mighty out of character, don't I? Oh well, this is fanfiction after all :)

DrewFullerFanLife: Happy to be back, thanx!

mewer44444: Soon enough? Lol

anianka: well, if you did read the story again you'll know by now that Piper is pregnant with Chris. And Bianca didn't exactly kick his butt, now did she? So, now you know where Lily was, hope you liked the chapter :)

Serene5: Why, thank you!

Alienangel19852003: Oh, I have a few things in store for you yet, I just hope you will like them. Anyway, thank you!

phoebe turner: Thanks! I did ;)

ennui deMorte: Damn, I knew that name sounded familiar! No, it's not the same Hammond, I think after what he knows he wouldn't be quite so antagonistic towards witches. Hope you liked the chapter, and yeah, Spike probably would kick her ass _lol_

Martina G: I did. Update, I mean. Writer's block really sucks, you know that? Glad you liked the chapter.

Sallywags: Thank you! Hope you liked it :)

rcaqua: I am alive :) Thanks!

redfox88: Well, Bianca didn't exactly attack Chris as we now know. Piper does know she's pregnant, she found out in chapter 11, I think. Sorry, if you want to know what happens to Bianca you have to read the next chapter. She's his wife by the way ;)

Karone Evertree: Well, it took me ages to write it, so that's fine ;) My vacation was nothing special, I didn't have the money to go anywhere :( Sorry, there'll be more Bianca in the next, but I think that's about it. Thank you :)

Hope master: Thank you :)

starra86: Holiday's always good! Thanks for the praise :) So, here's your update ;)

wickedwms: Thank you! You didn't have to wait that long this time, did you?

chattypandagurl: Yeah, I know that now... Drusilla being Spike's sire, I mean. I'll leave it like that though, this is fanfiction after all XP So, thank you! And if you find other mistakes, feel free to point them out to me, please :)

Lonnie: No, I think you're right. Like I said, I am not very happy with it either, but oh well. I hope this one is better again ;) I hope your nephew's fine, that sounded tough. My cousin's daughter is 10 months old now and we are all _so_ happy that there hasn't been anything seriously wrong with her yet. God help us, when she gets her first cold ;)


	14. Mortal Blow

Title: A Whitelighter's Priority

Author: rachelAbendstern

Summary: Chris and his little family have to face off Wyatt and the sister get a little extra incentive to bring him back...

Spoilers: Season 6 Charmed; I forgot to mention BtVS last chapter, 'The Gift'

Disclaimer: Neither Buffy nor Charmed is mine, and I don't make any money with it. Lily though belongs to me XP; and now, we finally meet her...

14. Mortal Blow

_Dort wo die Nacht kein Morgen kennt vermiss ich dich  
dort wo mein Herz für immer brennt verlierst du mich  
Wenn mein Engel meinen Namen nennt  
Ich halt noch immer deine Hand es ist vollbracht  
Dein letzter Schwur ist eingebrannt und keine Macht  
Holt dich zurück, denn wir sind verdammt  
Doch unser Licht zerbricht die Dunkelheit  
Weil jedes Wort von dir für ewig bleibt_

Spike was pacing restlessly in the living room of the Summers house, waiting for something to happen although even he himself couldn't tell what exactly that something was. The vampire had been feeling off all day long and that feeling had only grown in intensity when Chris hadn't shown up for the research party the boy knew they were going to have.

It was no set rule that the girl's Whitelighter joined them for every one of their little get-togethers but since each of the demons they were trying to vanquish was a possible threat less to his brother, the young witch hadn't missed a single one so far. Not only that, but their friend hadn't even responded when they called for him and, having that nifty Whitelighter ability of his, Chris should have been able to hear them if he had been on the other side of the planet.

After he didn't even show up to take a nap, Spike couldn't deny any longer that he was worried about the boy. The others had called him a worrywart when they had noticed his restlessness – a _worrywart_, _him_, could you believe that? – and told him Chris was probably just fine, busy with the sisters or on his own little crusade again, but Spike just knew something was wrong with the half-breed.

He had waited until now, one or two hours before dawn, hoping Chris would show up and prove he had made a fool of himself for nothing but that hadn't happened so far. His patience finally running low, he made a dash for the phone and dialled the number Chris had given them 'just in case'.

It took an eternity for someone to answer the phone and when they did, Spike didn't bother with pleasantries.

"You bloody well better tell me what the hell is going on down there!"

666

"A good morning to you, too, Spike!" Piper heard her little sister answer the phone that had grated on all of their nerves with its insistent ringing, the sarcasm dripping from her words telling tales of the rudeness of the person on the other end of the line.

Maybe they should have stayed strong and not answered it, the Charmed One pondered ruefully. If William got wind of what had happened in the last few hours, there would be even more trouble than there already was, as protective as he could be of his odd little ragtag family. But the stunned – and maybe just a little bit guilty – silence after Chris' and Bianca's departure had grown too loud to just ignore the shrill sound.

"You want me to what?" The woman heard Paige squeak into the phone. Uh oh, that didn't bode well. Her sister must have briefed the vampire without her noticing.

"No, Spike, no way I'll orb you here! You wouldn't be of any help anyways." She just _knew_ it didn't bode well!

Letting a distressed vampire loose on them? Piper had seen the demon in his overprotective mode once when Chris had brought his two friends to the club to retrieve something from his backroom and the vamp had thought Dawn had gotten herself into trouble; she really hadn't envied the poor bloke who had just wanted to dance with the girl. Having heard about Paige's little conversation with Chris about vampires and their clans, Piper found herself agreeing with her sister that William seemed to consider Chris family and she'd rather be stuck in a demons' lair than be around _this_ particular demon when one he of his own was in danger.

"You know what the scary thing is?" Paige sighed into the receiver. "I actually believe you would do that!"

That said the youngest Halliwell sister disconnected the line and turned around to them, explaining: "I'll go and get him. Otherwise he'll – and I quote – get the ruddy witches to drive me the hell up to San Francisco and kick your asses so hard your soddin' offsprings will be remembering it – quote end."

Piper heard her other sister choke down what suspiciously sounded like a cackle while she had to fight down a grin of her own despite herself. Only the infamous vampire could pack this many swear words in one mere sentence.

But what the really scary thing was, the current Halliwell matriarch decided when glowing orbs surrounded her youngest sister, was that in the end everything boiled down to protecting the family – Leo, Piper and her sisters, Chris as they now knew, even Spike in his own demony way would fight with teeth and claws to make sure their respective families were safe. And for Spike she knew, the teeth and claws were meant literally.

666

Keeping a cautious eye on their welcoming committee, Bianca soothingly stroked her daughter's long soft hair while the little girl still held on tightly to her father. She was beginning to wonder with shaking nerves how long it would take Wyatt to make his entrance. But the moment she thought this, was the moment Wyatt chose to make himself known.

"Welcome home, Chris!"

She heard the familiar haughty voice of the twice-blessed witch, Wyatt Halliwell, her husband's older brother, filling her with resentment and futile rage.

"Hello Wyatt." Chris' defiant voice greeted his older brother, all the while trying to shield their daughter with his arms. When Wyatt began to saunter towards them he put Lily on her own feet, pushing her behind him where the little one hid her face in the fabric of his trousers while reaching for her mother's leg with one hand. Bianca put her own hand on top of Lily's head, trying to reassure their little girl even though she felt no where near sure they would make it through this confrontation all right.

"They are no threat to me."

The six demons immediately obeyed the unspoken command and shimmered out, leaving the four of them alone in the dark attic of Halliwell manor. A happy family reunion...

"Et tu, Chris!" Wyatt's disdainful voice rang again.

What a joke, Bianca thought bitterly. All the things they had gone through, all the people that had died and for what? Wyatt was still as unaffected as ever by any of their attempts. And now it looked like there truly would be no more escaping from his grasp this time.

"Of all the people to betray me..." The older Halliwell began in what Bianca recognized as genuine disappointment. So the bastard still had emotions.

Chris answered him in another vain attempt to make Wyatt listen to him. "If I wanted to betray you, I would already have killed your younger self like they ordered me to. I went back to save you."

That might not have been a wise thing to say, Bianca feared as she watched the Twice-Blessed's eyes burn with sudden anger.

"Save me?" He questioned. "From what?"

"From whatever evil it was that turned you!" The Phoenix heard Chris' voice taking on the harsh, angry note it got when he felt himself being pushed into a corner and feared Wyatt wouldn't take the defiance well; he never did, but once again the half-breed managed to surprise her. Instead of the angry rebuke she expected, Wyatt let out a cruel laugh.

"That's always been your problem, Chris!" He explained to his stubbornly defiant little brother. "Stuck in your old good versus evil morals. I'm so past that!" The older man took a few steps back and raised a strong hand to get his point across. They all could feel the power suddenly crackling through the air as it gathered in his palm. "It's all about power, it's as simple as that!"

She could feel Chris bristling beside her but wisely decided to stay out of the brothers' argument. Thank god Wyatt still had some tolerance left for his little brother; if anyone but Chris had dared to question the Twice-Blessed in such a blatantly obvious manner, they would have been dead by now.

"And whoever has the most power wins, is that it?" Her hand unconsciously closed around Lily's small shoulder as Bianca tried to stay calm, hoping Chris knew what he was doing.

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Chris had a family of his own in the future...

That was the one thought that kept spinning through Leo's mind for the last few minutes. Never mind his wife being an assassin for the moment; what could possibly be bad enough for anyone to leave his family behind and risk their very existence by trying to change a whole timeline? Especially considering what Chris had told them before disappearing. _I would sell my soul if it kept my daughter safe. _And he meant that, Leo could tell. It was the way the Elder felt about his own son.

So, what was so horrible about the future that someone had decided there was only one way left to deal with it – namely to prevent it all from happening in the first place. And what had his son to do with it all. Even more to the point, what was the Phoenix talking about when she said they had had a part in creating the hell they had to go back to?

Before the man could spin his thoughts any further though, the tingling sound of orbing filled the attic closely followed by a low growl.

Leo all but jumped in surprise and jerked his head around only to be greeted by Chris' vampire friend in full game face. What the hell was Spike doing here? Had he really been that preoccupied not to notice Paige orbing out to get him? Of course, the question was kind of redundant, seeing as the demon stood there before him, amber eyes glistening in agitation.

Just to be sure, the Elder took a cautious step back. He really didn't know what possessed the sisters to even consider trusting the vampire. Even if he did seem civil enough most of the time.

666

Seeing Spike still sporting his demon face after materializing in front of a stunned Leo, Paige chided him in exasperation.

"Oh, come off it, Spike! We want to save him, too, you know!"

Hearing Phoebe snort, she turned around to her sister who was walking over to where the Book of Shadows lay open in its usual place. "I don't know if I want to save him or kick his ass!"

Phoebe's remark of course didn't really serve to calm the worried vampire down.

Trusting Spike wouldn't act on his rage though, Paige ignored him for the time being and went to stand beside her sister. The spell that lay open seemed familiar although the witch couldn't place it at the moment.

"So, how do you plan on bringing him back?" Spike growled, struggling to keep his demon in check. The ridges and fangs had thankfully disappeared, but his eyes were still glowing an uncanny amber.

"We were still working on that when you so graciously asked me to get you." Paige answered him ironically, casting him a reproachful glare which he thoroughly ignored. But deep down, she couldn't blame the demon for his behaviour. She wanted Chris back just as badly. Despite his sometimes aggravating behaviour the youngster had somehow grown on her. She still wasn't entirely sure of his motives but if she ever wanted to find out about them, they would have to find a way to get their Whitelighter – or rather witch-Whitelighter as they now knew – back to them.

"Preferably by finding a way to get us into his future!" Phoebe answered his earlier question, already flipping through the pages, searching for something that might help them.

"There's got to be a spell in here somewhere!" She exclaimed in frustration.

"To take us to the future, I don't think so." Over the course of her years as witch, Paige had come across some spells to take a person back in time, but she couldn't remember seeing one that could actually take them to the future.

"Bianca's a witch, she could do it, how could she do it?"

"You're supposed to be the most powerful witches the world has seen until now, or so Chris told me," Spike interrupted them in ill-contained anger. "Why don't you start acting like it! If you can't find a spell in there bloody write one yourself for god's sake! Or send him something useful, like a weapon!"

Paige actually flushed in shame and anger at his accusation. What did this demon know about witchcraft? That damn floorboard was creaking again when Leo stepped on it.

"It's not that simple, Spike..." she started but was interrupted by her older sister.

"Actually, maybe it is!" Phoebe seemed to be talking more to herself than to any of them, staring at the piece of floor the Elder had just crossed in his constant pacing, but everyone watched her with rapt attention now.

Looking up, the empath turned towards her oldest sister, asking: "Do you remember that time when my past life came to haunt me?" Umm, hello? What had that got to do with anything? But before either Paige or Spike could interrupt, the older witch already continued, now addressing both her younger sister and the vampire.

"You two weren't there for that, obviously, and to make a long story short: my past life threatened to kill me and only this talisman could save me, so I kind of relived that life and placed the talisman somewhere in the house where Prue and Piper would find it in the present."

Now things were getting interesting! With dawning understanding, the half-breed mirrored her sister's earlier stare at the spot of wood where that obnoxious floorboard was creaking again due to Leo's nervous energy.

"Leo..." well, Piper had gotten the clue as well.

"Fix the floorboard!" She continued her sister's open sentence. Never let it be said the Charmed Ones didn't know how to handle a challenge. Most of the time...

"Maybe he was trying to tell us something!" Phoebe mused, taking a few steps forward, her gaze lingering on the oblivious piece of wood.

Spike however was looking from one witch to the other, confusion clearly written on his face. "Who? What?"

"Maybe," Piper joined their sister, spinning on their little theory, while Paige leafed through the book again, trying to find the page where Chris had opened it.

"Maybe that's where Bianca's taking him, to the attic in the future!"

"But that would still be there, wouldn't it?" Phoebe's doubtful voice found her ears.

"Yeah. Unless we fixed it," she answered her sister distractedly.

"Or used it to send him something," Piper now quipped in that firm tone that she used when she had figured out a plan of action. "Something that he needed."

"Like what?" Leo asked confused. Oh for goodness sake, were all Elders this naive?

Ha! Finally, she had it! Paige knew the spell seemed familiar but now it really clicked. It was the same one Chris had shown them to get back their powers that time those three bad-dye-job-blondes had tried to take away their identities.

"Like his powers."

She almost jumped in surprise when the deep voice spoke up from behind her. Cut the almost – she did jump. Damn that vamp for moving so soundlessly. Spike looked over her shoulder at the spell, once again clear blue eyes gleaming in anticipation and satisfaction now that they actually had a plan to help the boy.

Alright, so the spell still needed a little bit of adapting, but now that they knew what to do, that was a piece of cake.

666

"So, how come no one ever told me about my niece?" Wyatt asked almost amiably.

Chris wasn't fooled by his brother's sudden change of demeanour though. The nicer the Twice-Blessed got, the worse was the backlash; and this time, it would be worse than ever before. The younger Halliwell would have told his wife to take Lily and get her to safety, _fast_, but he wasn't so naive to think his brother hadn't taken care of any possible escapes. Even though he didn't have his witch- or Whitelighter powers to sense for barriers at the moment, he still could feel the power circling around and above them on a completely different level. Seemed like his elementals were trying to compensate for the loss of his other powers.

Well, the one thing he did know about them was that they were triggered by his emotions and whatever else he could say about his big brother, Wyatt always did manage to send his emotions reeling.

"The truth?" Chris asked the other man challengingly. Pissing Wyatt off which in turn would rile Chris up seemed like his best shot to make sure his elementals were going to manifest themselves in what he hoped would be a helpful manner. The half-breed didn't try to think too much about that shaky logic. "I didn't want to give you any leverage against me or Bianca!"

If only he could get them to work the way they had with his mother when she had those powers bestowed upon her as goddess.

A cruel smile plastered itself on Wyatt's lips now. "Well, you didn't do a very good job then, did you?"

He crossed his arms smugly over his chest, keeping eye-contact with Chris even though he took up pacing the way their father had done so often when he couldn't contain his energy.

"I found out about her anyway. And if you want her to remain unharmed, you better begin to obey me!"

Oh yeah, let it never be said his brother didn't know how to push his buttons. Until now, Chris had managed to keep some kind of control over himself, but with this outright threat his temper flared up in a vengeance.

"I am not some dog you can order around, Wyatt!" Chris hissed furiously.

Something within him coiled in anger at the image. He would _not_ be Wyatt's lapdog!

Then, out of the blue, a bolt of lightning struck just outside the manor. Thunder roared so loud that their ears were ringing, mingling with a high-pitched scream as Lily clung tightly to his leg. Heavy rain was pounding on the roof and windows. Damnit! So much for controlling his elementals... How was he supposed to fight against his brother if those powers were so damn unpredictable?

Pressing Lily against him with his hand, he could see a faint orange glow outside the window out of the corner of his eyes where the lighting had set something on the ground afire. Neither of the two Halliwells had even flinched. Did Wyatt know about his secret?

"Chris!" He heard Bianca call out but the half-breed didn't react, still glowering at his brother.

His wife had been unusually restrained up until now and he was grateful for that. Chris knew without a doubt that, had anyone but him said all the things he had, his brother would have killed them without a second thought. It was only a matter of time until Wyatt's patience with him ran out as well. But after Wyatt's threat, the Phoenix obviously had enough of being silent.

"You will _not_ lay a hand on my daughter, you son of a bitch!"

She strode forward purposefully, a hand raised in order to summon an energy ball. But the Twice-Blessed was faster. With an almost casual wave of his right hand he sent his lover crashing into the wall behind them.

"Mommy!"

Their daughter scrambled out of his hold and flew over to where her mother was lying on the ground, closely followed by Chris. He let out a breath of relief when he realized she was only stunned, already blinking her eyes in confusion for one moment.

A floorboard creaked loudly behind them, effectively warning them about the other man approaching. Chris turned around to see Wyatt standing a few steps away from them, mouth set in a grim line. Shifting his gaze to the ground beneath him for a second, his sudden hopes proved true. It was the same spot...

"Bianca!" Wyatt spoke again. "I can't believe I trusted you. All this time you have been going behind my back, helping my dear little brother with this ridiculous resistance."

Now, another cruel smirk played around his brother's lips. "It doesn't matter though. I will give you one last chance, just like Chris. Either you will join me; or you will meet the same sad fate as that foolish old man who thought he could spite me."

What old man was he talking about?

Bianca who had drawn herself up by now, bristled at this. "That 'foolish old man' was _your_ grandfather, Wyatt! Don't you have a fucking shred of decency left in you?"

For one terrible moment, Chris felt as if the floor beneath him had shifted. It left him light-headed.

"What?"

He almost couldn't hear his own voice through the haze that seemed to have settled over his mind. Reaching out with his hand, he desperately tried to keep himself upright. Bianca was looking at him with wide, shocked eyes, but that didn't even truly register anymore.

"What?" The older half-breed mocked. "She didn't tell you? Dear old Victor tried to defy me the last time!"

White hot rage surged through him as he heard his brother's careless words, ruling over the disbelief that Wyatt had had absolutely no qualms about killing a _family_ member, _Grandpa_. There really was nothing good left in him.

"_Bastard_!"

The furious young man made a dive for his brother before he even knew what he was doing, catching the other witch hard around the waist and bringing him down with him, knocking the wind out of both of them. But Wyatt recovered almost immediately from the unexpected attack, lashing out at his brother and throwing his lighter weight off him and into one of cupboards effortlessly.

Wood splintered, glass shattered and he heard outcries from both his girls but Chris didn't care at the moment. Fury kept him going and suddenly he could feel a force forming within him, shaping itself and the next thing he knew, the burly figure in front of him was literally blown off his feet, crashing into yet another cupboard. But just as soon as his powers had taken shape they were once again out of his reach, leaving behind only the howling of the storm that was raging outside.

Breathing hard, Chris struggled to regain a clear head. He didn't have time however. Suddenly it felt like a cold hand grabbed him around the neck, lifting him off the ground, squeezing. Looking at Wyatt he saw his brother kneeling on one leg with his fist outstretched, shaking in obvious anger.

"You've lost your mind!" The older Halliwell hissed, steadily tightening his telekinetic hold on his younger sibling. "I thought your powers had been stripped!"

Desperately trying to breath, Chris suddenly realized something. He would die today. God, he was so stupid! What would happen to Bianca, to Lily, if he died now?

Through a rapidly narrowing vision he could see the blonde warlock lifting his other hand, summoning an energy ball while telling them: "It doesn't matter. I don't need you!"

But just as he was about to hurl the glowing orb towards him there was a loud shout and the scurrying of feet.

"NO!"

He toppled to the ground, hard, as the hold around his neck unexpectedly loosened, leaving him shaky and gasping for breath.

Bianca, who had her hand embedded deep in the struggling Twice-Blessed's back, trying to draw from his powers, addressed him with a tremble in her usually steady voice. "Whatever you're gonna do, do it fast! I cannot hold him for long!"

Chris' mind raced. His elementals were inaccessibly to any kind of conscious control. So what? _The floorboard! God,_ he prayed, scrambling over and scratching at the piece of wood, _for once, just once let my family be worried enough to help me!_

They were. Had been. Whatever. The only thing that mattered was the yellowed piece of paper he had found beneath the floor, the black ink faded but still readable.

Glancing at his wife's desperate expression, he hurried to read the spell.

_"Powers of the witches rise,  
Come to me from across the skies.  
Return my magic give me back  
All that was taken from the attack!"_

Chris felt the tingling of his returning powers at the same time Wyatt was finally able to break the dark-haired witch's hold on him, throwing her backwards with a furious kick.

"Mommy!"

"NO!"

Horrified, he watched as the world seemed to have slowed down, unable to do anything as his lover was staked by a stray piece of broken wood; unable to do anything but throw his brother in the ceiling with his returned telekinesis so hard that it left Wyatt knocked out.

Disbelief mingled with growing panic as he hurried over to the fallen woman, his gaze drawn to the bloodied stake against his will.

"Bianca!" His voice caught in his throat as he cautiously placed his hand on her hip. Bringing down his head to her neck he thought he heard himself whimpering.

"Haven't we been here before?"

Bianca's thin voice shook him out of the stupor he had fallen into for a few seconds. Chris raised his head slowly and looked at the woman he would have gladly given his life for, matching her shaky smile with one of his one.

"Maybe we will be again." Lord, he hoped so! How could he ever live without her?

A low keening sound caught his attention and he looked around in a daze. Concern and shame added to his anguish as he saw their little girl sitting near the portal, rocking back and forth with her knees drawn to her chest, watching them with intent, tearing eyes.

Bianca's soft words once again interrupted the silence. "Maybe. If you can finish what we started."

Chris felt a trembling hand touching the one that lay on his lover's hip, pushing a small cool item in his fingers. Looking down, he saw Bianca's wedding ring resting in his palm. It felt as if someone had just ripped a hole in his chest.

"Take good care of our daughter. And tell her I love her!"

The low rustling of clothes alerted them to Wyatt awakening again and despite her rapidly weakening state Bianca managed to make her voice sound urgent as she told him: "Hurry. Take the spells so he can't send anyone else. Go!"

Shaking, he nodded, taking one last look at her, trying to memorize her every feature before he rose and hurried over the Book of Shadows which his brother, for some unknown reason hadn't taken back to wherever he kept it nowadays after he found out about Chris' departure. Deep down, Chris and Bianca both knew that they probably would not meet each other again, but the half-breed ruthlessly pushed that unwelcome knowledge into the corners of his mind where he would not have to face it anytime soon.

„Mommy! Daddy!"

He could hear Lily crying, as he searched frantically for the spell in the book. Avoiding the view to his right.

There, finally! He found it.

_"Hear these words, hear my rhyme,  
Heed the hope within my mind."_

Just in time he caught sight of a now fully restored Wyatt firing an energy ball his way and managed to duck.

_"Take me back to where I'll find  
What I wish in place and time_."

The portal appeared in a swirl of liquid blue. He cast one last anguished look at his brother, ripped the page out of the book, sprinted to Lily, grabbing her in a tight embrace and jumped through the gateway. Chris could hear his brother's furious shout and another sizzling energy ball aimed their way but it was too late to still harm them.

They crashed on the floor on the other side, Chris shielding Lily with his own body and taking the brunt of the impact. Too numb to feel anything at the moment, he just lay there for a few seconds, tightening his grip around his shaking and sobbing daughter. He didn't want to think, didn't want to remember the last few minutes, but the insistent voice in his ears took him back to reality.

„Chris? Are you okay?" Leo. His father. God, he showed more compassion for a stranger than his own son.

666

The boy was half mad with grief, Spike knew that the second Chris and the little girl came crashing through the portal. Almost able to feel the powers radiating off the witch, the vampire could tell that Chris was barely holding onto his emotions.

The silence was deafening. Nobody moved while they all watched Chris who was still shielding the child, staring at them with haunted eyes. While Spike watched, something shifted within those bright green orbs as they focused on the back of the room, something dark and vengeful and suddenly, the demon felt another power surge through the air in his back. Turning around, he saw that the witch's little runt had for some reason put up the protective bubble he had had around Spike for quite some time in the beginning.

Directing his attention back to the half-breed, he suddenly understood why Wyatt felt the need to protect himself all of a sudden. Chris' eyes were rapidly darkening into an eerie, bottomless black, his hair was catching in the wind that was building up around him and Spike had the distinct feeling that it would take a bad ending if no one stopped the boy before he lost himself in his pain.

Without thinking, the vampire stepped in front of the agitated witch, right in the line of fire even as he could feel the wind rise in howling fury. There was no way he would let Chris do that. Especially since he knew that the young one wouldn't feel any better afterwards, to the contrary.

"Don't, Chris. That's not what you want. That's not what you came here for. He is not responsible for anything that happened. Not yet." The demon said calmly, not the slightest bit ruffled by the wind pulling at his clothes.

The burning black holes settled on him then. It caused a cold shiver to run down his spine. After living for almost one and a half centuries there were not many things that were able to impress or even frighten the vampire anymore but the uncontrolled, raging wild magic around Chris was definitely one of them.

Right now, the witch looked more intimidating than he had for a long time. And just like that one time before, back in the demon bar, Spike could hear the boy's voice without him ever having spoken a word.

"_I hate him!_" the incorporeal voice wailed in hurt and denial.

"No, you don't," Spike replied in the most gentle voice he could muster, knowing Chris was hurting, but also knowing that he was right. "You hate what became of him."

For a few moments nothing happened. Chris only sat there, staring at Spike without giving any kind of sign that he had understood. Then, the wind changed and centred around the boy and before anybody could even react, he dissolved into wisps of wind, leaving behind the distressed little girl.

tbc

A/N: ...I'm baack :) ... _ducks flying tomatoes_

I'm really, really sorry that I kept you waiting for so long. But don't worry. It will get worse. XP

The end of term is nearing and somehow, all the really difficult things have waited until now to show up. I still have several programs to write and I ought to learn for my exams as well, so don't be too mad if updates only once a month become a commonplace thing with me. That doesn't mean I'm abandoning the story however. It will only take longer to finish it.

You have no idea how hard it was to write this particular chapter... Especially since I didn't truly _wanted_ Bianca to die. But it would have thrown over my whole concept of the story if I had kept her alive :( So, to any Bianca-lovers out there: I am _so_ sorry!

And to any others: I hope you liked the chapter nevertheless.

Anyways, the intro is of 'Dying Words' by Nu Pagadi and here's the translation:

_Where the night knows no tomorrow I miss you.  
Where my heart burns for all eternity you lose me  
If my angel calls my name.  
I am still holding on to your hand, it is done;  
Your last oath is branded and no power  
Brings you back because we are lost.  
But our light breaks the darkness  
Because each of your words is remembered until the end of days._

Okay, so maybe the words don't make much sense, but I still thought it fit the mood of this chapter...

And now's review time.

Wow, every time I take so long I get more reviews :)

BlackNightWolf04: Thank you! So, did you like Spike's part in this?

Issa: Thanks, but sorry, no can do. Really I'm sorry :(

phoebe turner: Thank you so much. Well, he did. Hope you liked it...

Cassi: I am so sorry! Hope you were still curious enough to read that.

redfox88: Umm, well, I didn't update, so that's just fine. That you couldn't review right away I mean. Glad you liked the chapter. I like Bianca too. And I don't think she turned on Chris in the series. She just wanted to know him safe, whatever the cost... I think your question whether or not they are coming to the past has been answered in this chappie ;)

Knives 42: Thank you! I did update. Like I said, updates won't be regular anytime soon, sorry

gabrieldarke: THANK YOU:) Sorry about the long wait :( Where's the timeline off? I try to keep it in mind but well, mistakes happen.

HauntedPast: I'm glad you do :) Thank you. And I will, it just depends whether or not I find the time to do it in a reasonable amount of time .

Thank you all so much and tell me if I forgot one of you, I wouldn't want that.


	15. Rock Bottom

Title: A Whitelighter's Priority

Author: rachelAbendstern

Summary: Shaken from Bianca's death, Chris leashs out at the city. Spike finds himself once again in the position of mediator.

Spoilers: Season 6 Charmed; BtVS up to and including 'The Gift'

Disclaimer: Neither Buffy nor Charmed is mine, and I don't make any money with it. Lily though belongs to me XP.  
The intro is taken out of 'Mother Earth' by Within Temptaion.

15. Rock Bottom

_With every breath and all the choices that we make  
We're only passing through on her way  
I find my strength believing that your soul lives on  
Until the end of time I carry it with me_

Mommy's gone. The bad man hurt her and now she's gone.

Lily didn't understand much of what had happened before, but she knew _that_ without a doubt. She wanted her Daddy! Why did he leave her with those strange people? Why did they leave Mommy behind? Where did the big scary man go? And who were those people? There were so many questions swirling around in her head...

The little girl kept staring at the tall blonde man who had spoken to her Daddy. He seemed nice. Lily could tell he was a demon. No human she had ever seen could change the colour of their eyes into glowing yellow but she had seen some demons doing it. Again, she might be too young to understand many things but she understood that, too. And he seemed to like Daddy. He was using many bad words now but from what she could understand he was worried.

Maybe, Daddy was hurt, too? But he would come back, wouldn't he? She had missed him so much and she didn't know why he had to leave for so long, but he came back just as he promised. So he wouldn't leave her alone now, right?

"Hey there, Sweetie." Lily was startled by the voice next to her. She hadn't seen the red-haired woman walking towards her. She had a kind smile and Lily instantly liked her. The little girl rubbed her long sleeves over her face to get rid of the tears and sniffed slightly before she answered.

"Hello. Who are you?"

"I'm Paige. I am a friend of your father's." Lily felt like a weight fell off her small shoulders; a weight she hadn't even known was there. So Daddy didn't leave her with just any people but with friends. Silly her.

"What's your name?" Paige asked while she was kneeling down in front of Lily.

"Lily."

She jumped when suddenly lightning blinded her again and the loud thunder almost split her ears. Where was Daddy? He knew she didn't like thunderstorms. He always orbed away when he was upset about something because more often than not, storms broke loose when he was really upset. Maybe that's why he left today? Did Daddy cause that storm? He had to be very, very angry or sad for a storm like that. But what could make him so angry and sad?

Losing Mommy, the little girl suddenly realized.

Lily shuddered when she heard the wind rattle on the windows and heard another thunder rolling over the house. When she saw the nice woman holding her arms out for her, she flew into them without a second thought. Clinging to Paige, she listened to the other grown-ups talking.

666

"What just happened?"

Piper had a hard time making herself heard over William's consistent and colourful swearing and the roaring of the storm outside. Making her way quickly to where her son had just dropped his force field, the witch had the funny feeling that, if only he knew who to leash out on, Wil would gladly have torn someone limb from limb. Actually, it told volumes of the bond they had unwittingly established with the demon that he didn't just take his anger out on one of them.

She picked Wyatt up and took a long look at him, unable to quench the sudden uneasy feeling she got. What could have happened in the future for Chris to become so... homicidal? The witch was well aware of the fact that her young Whitelighter had quite a few dark spots in his personality but she had never seen him like that before. And what had Wyatt to do with anything? The way the vampire had talked the young half-breed out of his rage had clearly suggested that Chris knew Wyatt and that Wyatt... No, she wasn't following down that path! That was just ridiculous...

Tearing her gaze away from her little boy and forcefully stomping on that queasy feeling in her guts she turned to see Phoebe and Leo still standing shell-shocked whilst Paige picked up the little girl Chris had left behind. Which raised another two questions...

If that little girl was who Piper presumed she was – namely Chris' daughter – where was Bianca? Unfortunately, the queasy feeling only intensified with that question, giving her a pretty good idea of what the answer would sound like even though the Charmed One tried with all her might to deny the obvious. It was a whole lot safer to ask her other question...

"Where did he go?"

666

The sudden storm was unnerving her. Unnerving her almost as much as Chris' uncontrolled rage and grief had only moments ago.

No, that was as wrong as it could get. Chris' feelings had been unnerving on a completely different level. Phoebe had occasionally been able to sense something from the young Whitelighter, whenever he had been in enough emotional turmoil to hijack the empathy blocking potion she was sure he had taken. But nothing before had prepared her for the sheer, gut-wrenching all-consuming pain she had felt from Chris when his eyes had so unexpectedly turned into those eerie bottomless holes. The empath had been so caught up in the other's emotions she hadn't even heard what Spike had told the boy to calm him down.

"Where did the storm come from?" Phoebe asked nervously, jumping together with the dark-haired girl in Paige's arms when deafening thunder struck once again.

The vampire stopped mid-rant and turned a disbelieving stare at her. Where his threats and curses had failed to attract anyone's attention anymore, his sudden silence succeeded.

"Bloody hell! Don't tell me you haven't found that one out yet!"

Okay, she still worried about Chris. But she was seriously getting pissed at him. Did _everyone_ know more about their Whitelighter than the ones he came here to help?

Shaking her head in confusion, Phoebe stuttered. "Wh... what? Did I miss something?"

Surprisingly enough, it was Leo who quietly told her: "Chris is the elemental witch we couldn't find."

"Congratulations!" Spike sneered, words thick with sarcasm. "You just figured that out? One would think the change of weather every time the boy is upset would have been a clue."

Oh. That would explain it. Although Chris didn't really seem to have those powers under control if he could provoke a thunderstorm like that every time his emotions were running wild.

"You know, this is so not fair!" the woman suddenly exploded. "How come you seem to know so much about our Whitelighter and we don't? Even Dad knows more than us!"

And there were the amber eyes again. She really should know better than to challenge an already aggravated vampire.

"Because I bloody well _pay attention_!" the demon rounded on her, hissing furiously.

Ducking her head in shame, Phoebe was reminded of her father's words. She had to admit that both men probably had a point so she refrained from arguing any further.

Besides, they really did have other things to worry about. Like an emotionally instable half-witch with enough uncontrolled wild magic to cause the worst storm of the century out there.

666

Leo could not deny the twinge of guilt he felt at the demon's words. He had been so obsessed with proving Chris guilty of – what? Dishonesty most likely or using his family as a means to an end – that he completely ignored everything about the young man that pointed towards another truth.

The Elder had been proven right about the dishonesty tonight but although he resented the fact that Chris had not deemed it necessary to tell them about his true nature, Leo just could not bring himself to be angry with the boy. Much.

The price Chris had had to pay was simply too high to be gloating about such a petty thing as being proven right. The young man had lost his wife today. Leo didn't understand much of what had transpired only moments ago – didn't _want_ to understand – but even he could tell where Chris' anguish stemmed from. He didn't even want to imagine the same thing happening to him.

Looking at the girl Paige was holding Leo racked his brains over how he would explain _that_ to his fellow Elders. Allowing Chris to stay here after the Titans had been vanquished had been an expected, but _not_ unanimous decision. Convincing them to let his _daughter_ stay as well would be that much harder to accomplish. But the earlier events clearly suggested it would be plain irresponsible to send her back.

Leo wondered if Chris had intentionally left his daughter behind or if he simply didn't have enough control over his powers to allow him to use them consciously. He shuddered, thinking of the harm Chris could unwillingly cause.

Looking out the window to see a jagged lightning bolt split the sky in two in a matter of milliseconds, he shuddered again. He was fairly certain Chris didn't have any control over his powers at the moment. What could the boy possibly do if he _had_ full control?

One more reason to find him as quickly as possible...

Somehow, all this eerily reminded him of Piper's time as goddess when she finally understood that Leo had become an Elder and could not come back to her.

"Well, what are you waiting for?"

The sudden voice roused the Whitelighter out of his thoughts, reminding him that he had more urgent matters to worry about right now. Spike's golden eyes glared at him, the ridges on his forehead pushing forward and teeth elongating into sharp fangs. It was a sight to behold but not one he wanted to experience more times than absolutely necessary.

"Do your Whitelighter thing, for god's sake!" the demon growled angrily and with all too obvious impatience. "Sense for him! Come morning there won't be a San Francisco left if he continues like this."

666

The storm was raging over the city. There was thunder and lightning and rain and a wind so strong he wondered why it had not pushed him over the cliffs yet.

He didn't know how he got here.

He remembered silence, remembered rage and hate and darkness; and then a calm presence, pulling him away from the edge of the abyss he felt himself stumbling into. And he remembered the frightened quivering of the little girl in his arms when the wind was rising and knew that he had to get away from there; had to get away before something irrevocable happened.

And the next thing he knew he was standing on the cliffs over the bay, the huge frame of Golden Gate Bridge towering over the water, obscured by dark clouds and heavy bouts of rain.

The hate was gone. But in its wake it left a furious rage. And a pain so raw, so profound, so paralyzing that even breathing hurt.

666

"Don't you think I haven't already tried!"

Wow. Never knew that Elder had it in him, Spike thought somewhat impressed by Leo's sudden burst of temper. However he was not impressed enough to stop growling in anger at the helplessness of the boy's family. Weren't they supposed to be powerful or something? They were his _family_ for god's sake and couldn't even find him?

"There has got to be something we can do!" the youngest witch exclaimed, the concern that was evident in her voice partly consoling the vampire to their lot.

She was sitting at a table, a map of San Francisco in front of her and a crystal pendulum suspended in her hand above it while Chris' little girl in her lap was staring at him in... was that awe?

Realizing he had slipped into game-face some time during the last few minutes Spike couldn't help a nervous chuckle. So the girl came after her father more than her grandfather. That was a relief – and _might_ save Chris from being ripped into _pieces_ once he got a hold on the boy! He understood that Chris had secrets. But how could he keep something as important as _this_ from them, from _him_? How was he supposed to protect _his_ family if they didn't trust him?

666

Shaking her head in frustration, Paige let the scrying crystal drop on the table without any clue as to where their young Whitelighter had disappeared to.

"This is pointless!" she complained agitatedly, tightening her grip on Lily who was still sitting quietly in her lap.

"Something about this storm is blocking our every attempt at finding him! I even had Lily's help scrying for him and _nothing_!"

"Perhaps he just doesn't want to be found," her empath sister sighed wearily, rubbing her forehead as if her head was aching while she was pacing in front of the table.

Anyway, this seemed to be everyone's favourite occupation nowadays; pacing. Phoebe was pacing right in front of her, driving her to madness, Leo was pacing in front of the window, Piper – well Piper had an excuse for her pacing since she tried to keep Wyatt preoccupied, and Spike was alternately watching the storm from the window and walking over to the table to look over her shoulder.

"Well, that's just his bad then!" Piper said determinedly. "We can't just let him devastate the whole city because he hasn't got his powers under control!"

Although it seemed like an eternity since Chris had wisped away for lack of better terms, they had been searching for the young man less than ten minutes. It wasn't a long time but with the havoc that could be wrecked by the storm they were kind of in a hurry.

"Yeah, well, you had them under control that time and you still almost destroyed the city."

At her sister's pointed look Paige raised her hands in defence. "I'm just saying."

"Where does he go around here when he wants to be alone?"

Damn that vampire! One of these days she was going to buy him a little bell for around his neck to hear him coming, she thought as Spike's voice suddenly sounded right beside her.

But it was a valid question. Where did the boy go when he wanted to forget about the world around him? Any other time her first answer would have been Sunnydale, but as the storm was still raging outside, Chris had to be somewhere in San Francisco.

"Besides Sunnydale? I don't know." she confessed unhappily.

"I know."

At first, Paige looked around in surprise at this new voice before she realized that it was Lily who had piped up. Apparently Spike had been quicker on the uptake as he was already crouched in front of the little girl, looking intently at her with glowing amber eyes. Surprisingly enough, Chris' daughter didn't seem to be intimidated by the demon – or not so surprisingly seeing who her parents were.

"You do, luv?" Spike asked unusually serious. "Can you show me?"

What happened next startled all of them. One second, Lily was still sitting in Paige's lap with the vampire crouched in front of them; the next the little girl grabbed the man's hands and promptly shimmered out of the attic with him.

666

Alright. That was not exactly what he meant when he asked the little girl to show him where her father might have disappeared to.

Spike found himself on a cliff high above the bay, dark clouds and rain obscuring the light of the sun he felt in his old bones was about to rise. The two of them were drenched in a matter of seconds, the wind pulling at their clothes and hair with undiminished fury.

Standing up he looked around the bare plateau, spying the boy only a few feet away from the edge – way too near the steep cliff for his comfort – while the girl pressed herself against his legs in fright of the storm.

"Alright, luv." Spike had to yell to make himself heard over the howling wind. "You brought us here. Any idea what to do now?"

He wasn't actually expecting an answer from the kid. He was just thinking loud because honestly, he was at an absolute loss of what to do, now that he had found the raging young man. This time, the vampire didn't have the slightest clue what he could do to calm the boy down. If he would have been crying or yelling or cursing or brooding, then maybe. Now though he just felt helpless. And it was not a feeling he liked.

But to his surprise Lily suddenly looked up at him with her huge brown eyes, nodded slowly and turned around again to face her father, still tightly clutching his duster in both her hands. The boy hadn't noticed them yet, standing with his back to them and facing the waterside, his head bowed and hands balled into tight fists.

"Christopher Perry Halliwell!"

Spike almost jumped when the girl shouted right beside him with her high-pitched voice at the top of her lungs.

"You stop that nonsense this instance!" the childish voice demanded in a tone so much like an adult it would have been funny if not for the circumstances.

It had the desired effect however. Chris whirled around, staring at them uncomprehendingly for a moment, with eyes of swirling darkness.

"Go away, Spike!" the witch's hoarse voice sounded once more in his head.

And suddenly, at seeing the overwhelming desperation and furious anger in Chris' pale face, the vampire knew what to do.

"I can't do that, pet."

He pried Lily off his legs, hoping the little girl had enough sense to stand back even though he could sense her fear and walked slowly towards his young friend.

"If you want to fight someone," Spike began calmly, trusting that Chris would understand him despite the roaring of thunder and wind, "you'll have to fight me!"

666

"Oh that's just great!" Paige threw her hands up, partly in annoyance, partly in defeat.

"Now we lost all three of them."

"Did she just shimmer?" her oldest sister interrupted her startled, pointing wide-eyed at the spot where Spike had been kneeling only seconds before. "That little girl just _shimmered_!"

"Well, her mother _was_ a Phoenix." Phoebe pointed out, already going for the scrying crystal.

Unfortunately, she had to reach over her little sister to do so. Paige only just managed to steady her when she was about to fall onto her lap.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Phoebe smiled sheepishly at her. "We can scry for Lily. She's a witch, too."

Mmh. Now that was an idea.

Two minutes later Phoebe grabbed Paige by her hand and told her unsuspecting brother-in-law in a bout of thoughtlessness: "You stay here and take care of my two nephews and their mother!"

Paige had enough common sense to orb then and there to the cliffs they had found before the shock wore off and Piper could jinx her loud-mouthed sister into next week, leaving a fuming Charmed One and one stunned Elder behind.

666

The quite physical blow she took when the winds almost knocked her off her feet was the first thing she noticed as they materialized on top of the cliffs. If the storm was raging over the city it seemed to have culminated right here where Phoebe and her sister were standing now, lightning striking every few seconds all around them, the thunder ringing in their ears.

The empath almost toppled to her knees a second time when her powers kicked in and she was all of a sudden swamped in a wave of unshielded, uncontrolled emotions. A steadying hand on her upper arm helped her to regain control over her unpredictable powers. Looking around still shaken, Phoebe finally caught sight of whom they had come here to find.

"What are they doing?" Her younger sister cried out over the storm, outraged, worried and confused all at once. Not that Phoebe could blame her.

Spike and Chris were at each other's throats, trading blow after blow in a vicious dance of deadly skill and long honed reflexes. Or so it seemed; until the woman noticed that the vampire was actually holding back, mostly intent on defending himself with only the occasional fierce kick or punch in between. Suddenly she understood what was going on here.

Quickly snatching a handful of rain-soaked cloth she was only just able to keep Paige from charging right into the middle of the fight.

Spinning her head around, the other young woman accused her in frustration: "What are _you_ doing?"

"Anger management." Phoebe explained in a calm voice. Or as calm as possible with the wind still howling around them.

"Don't you see, Paige? Whenever Chris' emotions run high he loses control over his elemental powers. Spike knew that. He's trying to focus Chris' anger and pain on something else." Turning around, she realized that the storm was already losing some of its fury.

"And I guess it's working."

Once again turning her attention towards the two opponents, Phoebe watched in rapt fascination. They were excellent fighters, both of them, moving with the grace and apparent ease of wildcats. The woman winced in sympathy at a particularly strong kick to Chris' side when she became aware of her sister frantically looking around the plateau, searching for something.

"Where's Lily?"

Oh damn! Chris' little daughter! She had completely forgotten about her.

Finally they spied her; the little girl was crouching behind a small boulder, quivering, with her hands over her ears. The two sisters hastily hurried over and pried her away from her shelter and into their arms.

For a moment, Phoebe felt anger coursing through her, anger at her young Whitelighter and the way he had just abandoned his daughter with strangers. Then again, she had experienced first hand what state the young man had been in – and still was, to some degree. The only thing they could hope for now was that Spike was able to bring Chris back to his senses and quickly.

666

The darkness was fading.

And with it the burning rage that had fuelled his attacks.

He was dimly aware of strong arms coming around him when he slid to the ground, the last of his strength dissolving, leaving him bereft and helpless. The only thing left now was his pain. Pain and guilt over the deaths he had caused with his leaving.

He had left them. He had left them on their own and his grandfather had paid with his _life_ for Chris' mistake. And Bianca...

Oh god, Bianca!

Slowly, a voice filtered through his confused mind. He tried to focus on what it was saying only to get away from the nauseating guilt.

"... not your fault."

That was Spike's voice. After that first recognition, the young man became aware of the demon's arms that were still around him and the faint scent of cigarettes and dust he always associated with the vampire. Spike spoke again and this time, Chris understood everything he said.

"It's not your fault, Chris! You can change it, that's what you came here for."

There were tears running down his face and he had not even noticed until now. Chris could not believe him. He tried to get away but Spike refused to let go. After a short struggle the young witch simply surrendered and burrowed even deeper into the embrace.

And Spike held on.

666

Sunnydale, a short while later...

She watched from the door of her darkened bedroom as the bleached blonde demon she had known for some time now covered the exhausted young man with a layer of blankets, stroking through the dark strands of hair with surprising gentleness.

A few years ago she would never have believed had anyone told her that Spike could be gentle, caring even. Now, she didn't know if she was glad or furious about that Initiative chip that had had such an impact on the vampire's... unlife. Seeing Spike this way made her wonder what the human had been like before he had been turned, if even the demon could still feel those kind of emotions that had always been the definition of 'humanity' in her mind.

In a way she was angry at the Initiative for what they had done to the vampire. Spike didn't belong into a cage, even if it was an invisible one, binding him in a way solid bars of steel would never be able to. She was furious about it the way she was furious about the cages keeping wolves, tigers and all the other predators at the zoo from their natural environment – knowing that they didn't belong in there but nevertheless glad she didn't have to face them without the security of those cages.

Although she had to admit that Spike seemed to truly care about her little family, helping them even if he didn't have to. She was grateful he had kept them safe all this time and continued to do so out of his own free will.

Something nudged her upper thigh and she looked down only to see the large, doe-brown eyes of Chris' little girl. She was grateful for the young Whitelighter as well even if she didn't truly understand the weird friendship he had developed with the vampire. But she could tell that the he had been a good influence on her friends, especially her sister and a certain redheaded witch who had taken her death a lot worse than Buffy had ever expected. If not for Chris, she might have ended up a living corpse for all that she knew. It was enough to make the former Slayer worry about him now, although she didn't really know him.

The two strange witches who had brought Spike and Chris here – surprising herself and Willow, who had summoned her friend as she did now and again – had left a few moments ago, worry clearly edged in their features. But Spike had all but thrown them out, showing an over-protectiveness towards the young Whitelighter Buffy had only ever seen in his treatment of her little sister. It was almost ridiculous when she really thought about it; Spike was a demon, body and – for lack of a better terminology – soul and Chris was a freaking _angel_, or half of it anyways...

Sighing, she picked up the little girl.

"Hey there, sweety," she said in what she hoped to be a soothing voice. "You want to go to your daddy?"

The little girl nodded wordlessly and the young woman made her way towards her old bed, coming to stand next to Spike. Lily hadn't talked much since she came here and Buffy couldn't really blame the kid. There was much she had to work through and being surrounded by strangers probably did not help a whole lot but there wasn't anything they could do about it at the moment. Her mother was... well, not there and her father was in no condition to do anything for the next few hours at the least.

"I think Willow wants to talk to you," Buffy explained the vampire, ignoring his surprised look for now.

"Something about an agreement the two of you had." She couldn't help the small mirthful smile at the thought of what was waiting for Spike out there.

"I'll look after those two for a while."

666

The little one was certainly one of a kind, Spike thought as he stood up, absentmindedly ruffling her dark locks. This whole time she hadn't been afraid of him in the least, not even when she saw his true face. Of course, there had been so much going on that morning that the vampire was not sure whether the little girl really knew how she was supposed to react around anybody here.

He didn't have time to contemplate anymore however, because, as soon as he had gotten out the room a furious small redhead immediately blew up in his face.

Well... that was to say, Willow didn't so much blew up in his face as kick his shin once he was in her reach. Hard.

"Bloody hell! What was that for?" _Damn that woman!_

Instead of shrinking back from suddenly yellow eyes though, Willow accused him furiously: "You did it again!"

_Huh?_ "What? I didn't do anything!"

Throwing her hands up in despair, the witch retorted just as heatedly as before: "Well, that's just it! I thought we were clear, you'd tell us when there's any kind of trouble with you guys!"

"I did. You said I was overreacting."

That one took the wind out of her sails for a second. But only for a second. She quickly regained some composure.

"Well... Still, you could have told us as soon as you knew for sure!"

Spike looked at the little woman in a mixture of amusement, pride and annoyance before heading down to the kitchen without another word, looking for a little breakfast.

_Whatever._

666

This was not good!

Gideon had spied on the sisters ever since they had called Leo down to earth – again. And he didn't like the new development concerning the Charmed Ones' new Whitelighter. He didn't like it one bit!

There was another half-breed, another creature that should never have been born, running loose on earth! The more he thought about it, the more obscene the idea of a Whitelighter-hybrid appeared to be. There was not much that could be done about Wyatt now – at least nothing _easy_ – but once the mess with that twice-blessed devil was resolved, he would have time enough to find out who exactly Chris' parents were and prevent... yeah, well, _that_ from happening.

Apart from Leo – who had been taken care of – there was no other Whitelighter who dared defy the rules taking a mortal lover, at least not that Gideon was aware of. Of course, that was the problem. If he had been aware of Patricia Halliwell's secret relationship with her own Whitelighter, Sam, the Elder would have made sure to stop that nonsense, thus, Paige Matthews would never have been born either. As it were, Paige proofed to be too valuable to regret that mistake when she made her first appearance after Prue's death. Even Gideon was not foolish enough to try and break the Power of Three just because he didn't approve of the woman's parentage.

Wyatt and Chris though were on another sheet completely. Wyatt's powers were simply too dangerous to be allowed to fall into the wrong hands. It was as simply as that. He would not allow letting the Dark Side get her dirty hands on a witch that strong, by _any_ means necessary!

And the same went for Chris, from what he had seen of the young man's powers tonight. He could not be allowed to _ever_ use those kind of powers against the council and, judging by the contempt Chris unsuccessfully tried to conceal whenever he had to deal with them, Gideon was not too sure the young man would not be willing to do just that when pushed into a corner. For example when the Elder had finally found a way to get rid of Chris' self-proclaimed little charge...

Well, the Elder would deal with preventing another abortion when this whole mess with the Twice-Blessed was resolved to his satisfaction. And that included that little demon-half-breed as well. Meanwhile, he just had to make sure that Chris was not a threat to him anymore. Preferably by finding a way of stripping his powers.

He had to find an ally!

666

Meanwhile, in a certain manor...

"You are _what_!"

Tbc

A/N:…I told you it would get worse.

Does it help any if I say I am truly deeply sorry for keeping you in suspense for waaayyy too long? Because I am. I didn't mean to take so long but along with having to prepare for exams, I was struck by a severe case of writer's block. I knew what I wanted to write but the words just kept eluding me. I hope you liked the new chapter nevertheless.

And sorry, but I couldn't help the last two lines… :)

As for reviews, I don't have enough time now to reply to them all – my father is practically breathing down my neck because he wants the computer all for himself tonight. I'll answer you all next time. And yes, there will be a next time. Like I said, I want to finish the story, it will just take a while.

Let me just say a huge huge THANK YOU to all of you who reviewed and a big I AM SO SORRY to all of you who were waiting for almost _4 months_ for this chapter…

P.S: Whoever asked if the Darklighter in my other story 'Fate's Weird Ways' was the one from 'Courtship of Wyatt's father': you were right, the same one :)


	16. Sounds of Silence

Title: A Whitelighter's Priority  
Author: rachelAbendstern aka abendstern1601  
Spoilers: Charmed Season 6, Buffy the Vampire Slayer up to 'The Gift'  
Disclaimer: Honestly, if they were mine, I wouldn't be playing in those fandoms like this. My stories would have been aired on TV instead!  
Summary: Chris isn't coping too well with Bianca's death...  
Author's Notes: I know. I've disappeared for ages, literally (ducks behind the desk at the onslaught of accusations of impatient readers.) And I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for over two f years! Things happened, real life interfered, and I just couldn't get the words on paper, even if I had the plot in my head. But I haven't forgotten about this story. In fact, it's under revision now, and I hope my new beta will send me the first chapters soon. I'm not sure how often I will update, but hopefully, it won't take years again --; I didn't want to post any chapters until I've finished the story completely, but that can take a looong while, and some of you were very, very persistent naggers ;) so, here's something to string you along (lol)

THANK YOU FOR ALL THE REVIEWS YOU GUYS SENT ME! And excuse me for not answering.

To clear a few things up:

I know I don't always follow the Charmed timeline, but that's completely intentional. This wouldn't be fanfiction, if I weren't allowed to take a few liberties!

Buffy is dead! Whatever cameos she may have in this story, it's her _spirit_ that appears whenever Willow summons her.

Any more question? Ask and I'll clear them up.

666

16. Sounds of Silence

_Leave me alone  
Isolation bears hope  
There's something else waiting  
A promised destiny  
Freezing me  
I feel restless and low  
These days full of sadness  
How joyfully changed  
Into fear_

(Blind Guardians, Bright Eyes)

Spike stood leaning against the door frame just outside the bedroom, watching and listening as Chris put his daughter to sleep, a small frown creasing the demon's forehead.

They had Lily set up in Buffy's old room for several reasons. The first and foremost in some ways being that the little girl couldn't keep her mouth shut if her life depended on it once she warmed up to people. Spike smirked fondly.

It had been almost four weeks since the whole disaster had taken place and although Lily still asked for her mother sometimes, she was beginning to accept that Mommy wouldn't come back no matter how much she wanted her to. Children were resilient that way.

No, Spike's frown wasn't directed at Lily. It was directed at Chris. His lover's death had hit the young man hard. He tried to play it down, and he didn't much talk about it, but he couldn't fool his little makeshift family. The boy was still grieving. Which was normal and would have been alright if not for the fact that Chris tried to deal with his grief by getting into fights with any demons he could get a hand on and generally taking unnecessary risks in his quest for redemption or vengeance or a new chance or whatever it was that he was looking for. And _that_ was bloody well not acceptable! He hadn't put his life on the line only so the brat could off himself now in a misguided bout of violence.

The vampire didn't know if the San Francisco witches had noticed Chris's drastic change in behaviour as well, although the red one orbed in now and again.

The creaking of the floor and a familiar scent invading his nostrils made him turn around to look at the Slayer's White Knight, when Xander unsuccessfully tried to sneak over to him.

"How are they?" the boy quietly asked once he was near enough to look over Spike's shoulder into the room. At least here, in Sunnydale, Spike wasn't the only one worrying.

-

Seeing as the vampire only shrugged his shoulders in response to Xander's question, Xander looked on as Chris attempted to put his daughter to bed. They had all agreed to let the kid have Buffy's old room despite all the arguments coming from the San Francisco witches, Chris's other charges.

A wry smile made its way onto Xander's face, while watching Lily charm her father into reading her 'just one more story'. The little girl was definitely something else. Part Phoenix (a name that translated into a coven of assassin witches, as far as he had gathered), part witch (descended of the most powerful witches known in entire human history, no less) and part whitelighter (and wasn't that...well, something else? Angels were real!) Not to mention that she could out-babble the best of them once she got started.

Maybe Xander wasn't the brightest crayon in the box, but he understood exactly why the Halliwells insisted that the whole Sunnydale bunch (including Lily's own father) were too young to care for a child. They kept arguing that, since Piper was soon to be mother twice over, she was the perfect nanny.

Yeah, he understood that perfectly. Because, while it was almost impossible to get a straight answer out of Chris where the future was concerned (or anything else, for that matter,) Lily was an open book full of information once she decided she liked you. Only that way had Xander learned about what had happened all those weeks ago, when Spike had carried a shivering, almost catatonic Chris up the hall and put him into Buffy's old bed. And although he understood Piper's need to know what would happen to her son (not that Xander had ever met the witch and her child), he also understood why Chris didn't want to tell her.

Having to tell your own mother that, a) you were indeed her child, the one she had apparently ranted about not wanting in the first place, and b) your older brother, twice-blessed and the most powerful being ever, had turned against _everything_ your family stood and fought for, had a hand in killing his own father and grandfather...that well and truly sucked. Especially after all that had gone down between Chris and his family since he had come from the future, all the mistrust, all the lies...

No one ever accused Xander of being very insightful, but with a little help from Willow and Lily, he had a pretty good picture about what motivated his best friend's brand new guardian angel.

And even without Willow's help, he would have understood what it was that drove Chris to go on patrol every single night since _that_ day, not waiting for the baddies to accidentally cross his path, but actively looking for a fight.

As much as it weirded Xander out, Spike had done the very same thing after Buffy's death. Only his promise to the dead Slayer to protect her little sister, Dawn, had kept the vampire from taking on too great a risk.

His own feelings on the matter notwithstanding, Xander actually believed that Spike had been in love with Buffy (or thought he was,) as was his sire before him. The vampire's affection for the youngest of their bunch certainly seemed genuine. Or at least, Xander liked to think so. He would never admit it, least of all to the demon himself, but the young man had kind of, sort of grown fond of the bleached menace.

Sudden movement in the bedroom brought Xander's attention back to their dark-haired, nowadays slightly psychotic half-angel. Chris had just finished tucking the covers around his little girl and was now walking towards the door, towards _them_, without so much as blinking his eyes in surprise at their presence. It was disturbingly uncanny, the way Chris knew when someone was near, when someone was watching him. Not even Spike had that sensitively honed senses, as he had begrudgingly admitted some time ago.

"Hey!" Xander started by way of a greeting as Chris closed the door to his daughter's room. "The guys and I were wondering if you'd join us in the Bronze tonight." Truthfully, they just wanted to keep an eye on him. The way the young whitelighter was going, they'd be lucky if he just collapsed from exhaustion one of these days instead of getting himself killed on one of his 'patrols.'

"Thanks," Chris replied emotionlessly, pushing his way past them and going down the stairs, "but I already have plans." _Hunting down demons, no doubt._

Before Xander even opened his mouth to comment, however, the vampire next to him, who had been curiously silent until now, snarled scathingly after Chris's retreating back, "What plans? Hunting demons again?" He quickly moved to follow the young whitelighter.

Hurrying along beside the demon, Xander caught a glimpse of glimmering yellow eyes. Spike hadn't quite lost hold of his human guise just yet, but hell! Xander hadn't seen the demon so pissed off since the time he had 'accidentally' spiked one of the demon's blood bags with cod-liver oil.

"That's none of your business!" Chris retorted icily.

They had made it to the staircase by now, and even Xander could tell that the other young man couldn't have said anything more effective to set Spike off.

He heard an angry growl beside him, and the next thing he knew, the vampire was at Chris's throat. Literally. The demon had jumped down the few steps separating him from their companion and pinned the younger man forcefully against the wall, with his left arm across Chris's neck and Chris having to stand on tiptoes. The whitelighter might know how to fight like a slayer, but in sheer physical strength Spike still had the upper hand.

"The hell it's none of my business!" hissed Spike, the bony ridges of his true face mere inches away from the half-angel's nose, fangs to the fore, livid amber eyes staring down angry, defiant green ones.

"Let go off me, Spike!" Chris spit out between clenched teeth, but the vampire only pushed harder against the man's throat.

"You listen to me, boy! Carefully! Don't think for one second that I don't know what you're doing!"

"Right," the halfbreed scoffed scathingly, "because you know so much about human emotions!"

Now that was a low blow, that even Xander couldn't help but wincing at. Because if there was one thing about Spike that had always creeped him out even more than the demon's...deadness, it was how much human emotions William the Bloody had managed to preserve over the century and a bit that he had walked the night. And Xander saw the realization of what words he had spoken dawn in Chris's eyes, but it was too late to take them back, and so the whitelighter continued to stare at the vampire like a petulant child.

Spike snarled, growled, gave Chris's throat one last push and stalked away from the young man. "Fine," he hissed, golden eyes filled with anger and contempt and something as close to hurt as the vampire would ever let anyone see, "go and get yourself killed. But if you drag my family into your quest for vengeance, I will make you regret the day you ever stepped foot into this house!"

With that, the demon turned around and stomped down the stairs in angry silence. Focusing his attention on the other man, Xander saw a fleeting look of misery wash over Chris's face, before the whitelighter orbed out of the house.

He really, really hoped that Chris would get his act together soon. Being in pain himself just didn't give anyone the right to make every person around him miserable as well.

After he had been left alone, it took a few moments for Spike's words to take hold in his mind. But when Xander finally realized that he and his friends had just been officially dubbed 'family' by a master vampire, he didn't know whether to laugh or freak out. He decided to take his usual approach to situations like these; pretend it didn't happen and go to raid the fridge in happy obliviousness.

666

The halls of the school were shrouded in darkness and silence. It was night once again, and the rooms and chambers that were bustling with activity during the daylight were now empty and deserted. No soul was left inside the ancient walls. No light brightened the darkness. Except one. The unsteady, flickering shadows that only candlelight cast were licking through the crack of a door. The door led to the headmaster's office, and inside said headmaster was pacing the length of the room. Turning around every now and again to cast a glance at the circle of candles on the floor and the open book on his table. Unsure, uncomfortable still with the decision he had come to during the last month, the last week as a matter of fact.

Straightening his shoulders, Gideon finally snatched the book from his desk, took his place at the bottom of the pentagram that was drawn within the refines of the circle and intoned the incantation written on the open page. Wind sprang up, candles flickered, and a cloud of dark light appeared in the centre of the circle to the deep murmuring of Gideon's voice. He repeated the incantation thrice before the haze thickened, transforming into flesh and blood, cruel eyes and cruel smile and a face that was as familiar as it was loathed.

"Barbas," the Elder greeted the resurrected demon of fear, closing the book with a resounding thud. "I have a proposition to make."

Cold, calculating eyes seized him up and a mocking, cruel smile played around the corners of Barbas' mouth. "I'm listening."

Gideon hastily quelled any remaining scruples and doubts about his actions, before explaining his plans.

666

Meanwhile, in a house not as old but just as dark and silent as the magic school, there was a column of bright blue light flooding into a windowless, untidy room, casting away the dark shadows for a few unaccounted seconds. Then, the darkness descended again, even blacker than before.

Chris collapsed onto the hard concrete floor of the basement of his childhood home. He was hurting all over, and not just in the literal sense. He could feel blood slowly oozing from a few cuts on his face and his back, and his ribs hurt when he moved, but he wasn't complaining. He had asked for it. Fighting took the pain away for at least a little while. Until the physical pain set in, that was, and by the time that happened, he usually remembered why he had gone into a rage like that in the first place, and he just wanted to curl up into himself and not see or hear anything for the next lifetime or two.

_His brother had killed his wife!_ The man he had looked up to, had adored for so long had killed the woman Chris wanted to grow old with, to raise their child with.

Choking of a sob, he did just that now, curling up into a ball of misery, on the cold floor, in the basement. Remembering happier times. Reminded of how this was the place that he and Bianca had said their goodbyes, when he left for the past the first time around. That memory was what had drawn him here, to this place instead of the attic. While the memory was still as painful as ever, it was better than what the attic reminded him of at the moment. He needed some place to be alone. And he couldn't go to Sunnydale just now.

Chris knew that he couldn't go on like he had been for the past month. Ever since he returned from the future. Ever since...

Lily already lost her mother, it wouldn't be fair to her if she lost her father as well. Especially if it was because of his own stupidity. He knew that. And he knew that he probably ought to apologize to Spike, if it wasn't already too late for that. He had no idea why he said what he did. He hadn't been thinking clearly.

Actually, he hadn't been thinking clearly for too long a time. It was time to get over the past and move on, as hard as it was. He had a daughter to take care of. In the depths of his soul, Chris realized that, had it not been for his little girl, he could have very well lost himself in his anger and grief. It was Lily that kept him from going over the edge once again, and the thought of leaving her alone in a world that she didn't know, with people that she had barely come to see as friends was unbearable.

That and Spike's failed attempt to beat some sense into him earlier was what made him vow now that this night had been the last time that he went out looking for a fight. Looking to get himself killed, essentially.

Letting go of his anger and grief would be hard, but he had to try. Focusing them on the mission he had come here for, would be more efficient in any case. He had been slacking in gathering information too long already. In a moment of sudden clarity Chris realized that, if he continued to let history run its course, and Wyatt turned evil in this timeline as well, Bianca's death would have been for nothing. And that was unacceptable.

For now, though, he just wanted to sleep.

666

The earthquake was barely enough to raise the citizens of San Francisco out of their sleep, much less get up in a panic. Some of the newer residents, who weren't as used to the frequent peril that Mother Nature held over their city, sat up in their beds, waiting for another tremble to follow, but lay back down when, after five minutes, nothing happened. Others just turned around in their sleep, not even fully waking.

It was enough, however, to open a small crack in the concrete floor of the basement of 1328, Prescott Street. Black smoke and shadows oozed out of the gap, hovered over the figure lying still on the floor nearby and finally entered the sleeping body of one Christopher Perry Halliwell.

Tbc...

Hope you enjoyed despite the long time that I haven't updated...


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